


Take My Hand And I'll Be Your Shelter

by brainstorm



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Homeless, Anal Sex, Blowjobs, Fingering, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gay Sex, M/M, Rimming, Smut, Top!Liam, Top!Niall, bottom!Liam, bottom!Niall, homeless!niall, lots of fluff, niam AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2017-12-28 19:36:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 119,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/995727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brainstorm/pseuds/brainstorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall made a stupid mistake some years ago that put him on the streets but then this stranger with kind brown eyes appeared and suddenly his life turned around. </p><p>Or the one when Niall is homeless and Liam saves him from that horrible life and they fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know what this is but I just wanted a homeless!fic because I never saw one and thought "why not?" I'm not sure how it turned out but I hope you like it.  
> Also, I wrote this like a month ago and this chapter is very short, the next ones are longer, this is just like an introduction, but I'm already writing chapter eight, yay! I'll probably update on the weekend after my exams, meanwhile, you can leave me any feedback if you want! Hope you enjoy it! (: x

Liam placed the key in the door and opened it. He let out a sigh. So… this was it then. New city, new flat, new life. Isn’t that exciting? 

He entered his already furnished flat and started taking all the boxes that contained his stuff and stacked them there in the living room. Being the neat freak he is, he’ll get it all unpacked and in its place in less than a week. 

He had moved from Wolverhampton to London to study. He is now nineteen and totally capable of living on his own… right? He was already accepted in uni, he was going to be a doctor, yes, he knew, he had a long way ahead yet, it was a long and hard career, he’ll really have to study, but he was ready, he had always been kind of ‘nerd’ anyway. 

His father had got him a job in an office with some of his old friends until he could try and apply for a job in a hospital or something, but this would have to do for the moment if he wanted to have something to eat and a roof. 

Once all the boxes were already inside, he closed the door and went sit on the sofa. It was comfortable enough, he’ll get used to it, and turned on the TV just to have some background noise, he was actually just taking in how his new home looked. Pale yellow walls, a big furniture in the wall that was opposite to him where the TV was placed and shelves on the sides, drawers on the lower part. There was a big window to his right, more like a sliding door which lead to the balcony, he lived on a first floor, so he could see the street from there. To his left there was a corridor which let to the two bedrooms and the bathroom and a door to the kitchen. The kitchen was big enough, the counter and the kitchen, then the fridge and there was a round table that could fit four people, five or six if you squeezed them. 

He walked down the corridor and opened the door that was at his right, which was a spare bedroom. There weren’t a lot of things there, a double bed, bedside tables on each side and a wardrobe. White walls, and a window in the opposite wall to the door. 

The door on the left side of the corridor was the bathroom, pale blue and white. Not too big, not to small. There was a pretty big mirror though. 

And at the end of the corridor, the last door, was Liam’s room. The walls were a very light blue, with a double bed with dark sheets and blankets. There was a window above the bed’s headboard, a big wardrobe, the ones that set into the walls, and with sliding doors and one of the two doors had a mirror. Finally there was a tv in front of the bed and some shelves at its side to put some books. Yeah, that would be good, he had already bought his books for uni, and they were a lot. 

He went back to the living room, sat on the sofa and took out his phone, and looked for his mother’s number. After a couple of beats, she answered the phone and Liam had to get the phone away from his ear a little because of his mother’s “HI LIAAAAAAAM!”. 

“God mum, don’t yell at me, I can hear you!... Yes mum, everything’s perfectly fine… yes, the flat’s great and-… No mum, you don’t need to come over here to help me unpack, are you crazy?... yes, I’ll give you a call every week-… I’m not going to forget about you, what are you talking about?... No, nonono, don’t cry mum, not again, please-… Okay, okay, I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah? I’m gonna phone Louis right now… Love you too, mum, bye!”

 _‘Oh God’_ , Liam thought, talking with his mother always exhausted him. 

He dialed Louis’ number and waited for him to pick up. As always, he had to call him like three times because Louis’ was always oblivious to his phone, he was kind of unreachable sometimes. But Liam knew that so he was persistent. 

“Hello, Liam?!”

“What is it with everyone yelling at me on the phone today?” Liam groaned.

Liam heard Louis laugh on the other side of the line, “sorry, mate. So are you here already?” 

“Yeah, just arrived.”

“I can go and help you unpack if you-“

“Oooh no, no, you’re not. You’re messy, Lou, no offence.”

Louis chuckled, “yeah, I forgot you’re a neat freak. I can come at night if you want, eat some pizza and catch up, haven’t seen you in such a long time, I missed you!” he finished with a high pitch voice.

Liam laughed, “okay, you can come later, I’ll text you the address.”

“Oh, wait. You mind if I go with a friend? I think I was going to see him tonight, but you were going to meet him anyways, we’re like one person lately.” He end up laughing.

“But my flat’s still a mess and you want to bring someone I don’t know!” 

“I bet yours looks a lot better like that than his anyways.”

Liam’s eyes widen, “You’re kidding.”

Liam laughed on the other side of the phone, “Liam, I can already see your terrified face. But no, I’m not kidding.”

“Oh God.”

“Don’t worry, he’s a nice guy, you’ll like him.” 

“Okay, I’ll see you tonight then, bye Lou.”

“Bye, Li!” 

He finished the phone call and looked around and sighed. He stood up and starting opening the box and putting everything in the right place. 

Soon all his clothes were already in his wardrobe with his shoes and all his books were in the shelves, perfectly organized. He looked at them, he couldn’t believe he was already in college. He decided he wanted to be a doctor once his father took his to the hospital to watch him work. To save people’s lives. That’s what he wanted to do. And his father actually taught him a lot. He already knew first aids, and how to heal some wounds, how to recognize some simple illness and how to treat them even though he couldn’t prescribe medications for obvious reasons. But he was still happy with starting college and meeting new people with the same interests as him and make new friends. 

He was putting away some things in the kitchen when his phone rang, he took it out of his pocket and a sad smile appeared on his face he saw who was calling. He picked up quickly.

“Hey” he said slowly.

“Hi Li, how are you doing? How’s London?”

“It’s great, I mean, I’ve just arrived but from what I’ve seen, it’s okay. What about you, Dani?” 

“I’m good, practicing a lot though, have a big show in a couple of weeks.”

“Wish I was there to see you.” 

“Yeah, me too, Li. But hey, let’s not get all nostalgic, okay? I need to go now, I wanted to check up on you a little, wanted to see if you arrived safe. We’ll talk later, yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Have a nice day, bye, Dani.”

“You too, bye, Liam.”

Liam let out a long sigh and sat in one of the chairs by the breakfast table. He missed Danielle, he really did. She was his ex girlfriend, but still. They broke up a couple of months ago due to Danielle’s career and because Liam was so preoccupied with going to London it just wasn’t working anymore. They were both in their world and even though they always found some time to see each other it seemed more like a friendship like a relationship anymore. It’s not like they didn’t enjoy each other’s company, they still loved each other, they just weren’t in love anymore, so they decided they’d break it up. They had been together for a little more than a year by the moment they broke up so when it happened it was kind of difficult at first. Liam still relies a lot on Danielle, he was one of the most important people in his life and he still cared a lot about her. They were good friend now though, they knew then can count on each other. 

Surprisingly, by the time Louis and his friend came around, he was already done with the boxes. 

“I can’t believe you managed to tidy this whole place up in just a day, Liam, you’re crazy.” Louis said entering the flat and giving Liam a strong hug. “Haven’t seen you in so loooong!” 

Liam laughed and hugged him back, when he let go, he saw tall, nice styled black hair and dark skin guy standing there. 

“Hey mate” Liam said to him.

“Hey, I’m Zayn. Doesn’t matter what Louis told you about me, I’m not any of those things, okay?” the guy stuck his hand out for Liam to shake. 

Liam did and laughed at the comment. “He hasn’t told me anything yet, so that’s good, yeah?” 

Zayn smiled at him, “Good.”

Once they were all inside, they sat on the sofa and turned on the TV, some football game playing in the background as they talked about everything that happened in the past year they haven’t seen each other. 

Louis was a year older than Liam, so he moved to London an year before to start college. He was studying drama. Louis was actually from Doncaster but they met once in some football tournament while they were still in high school and clicked rapidly. As they were from different cities they never really saw each other a lot but that’s how his friendship worked so they were used to it. 

“We’re going to see each other a lot more now that we live on the same city, Liam! Isn’t that great?” Louis asked happily.

“Yeah, great.” Liam said rolling his eyes playfully and they all laughed. “So what about you, Zayn?” he asked then.

“Uhm… well, I’m from Bradford and I’m studying art.” He said with a shrug. 

“And how did you two met?” Liam asked. 

“We had two subjects in common on our first year in college.” Zayn answered and shrugged. 

“Yeah, he doesn’t talk a lot.” Louis said and Zayn smiled. “He smokes a lot though, I’m trying to get him to quit but I can’t seem to get there. Now, you’re the doctor here, Liam, you tell him.” 

Zayn rolled his eyes at his friend’s comment and said, “talking about that, you mind if I smoke? I’ll go to the balcony.” 

“Alright.” Liam said, he didn’t like people who smoked but he just met the guy, he wasn’t going to tell him not to. “Is fucking hot outside though.” It was true, it was still summer and even though it was a typical London day, really cloudy outside but not raining, it was really hot. 

“Don’t worry, doctor, I’ll be out for a couple of minutes, I’m not going to die from dehydration.” Zayn joked. 

Liam rolled his eyes but laughed anyways. 

Louis and Liam stayed inside while Zayn smoked outside, lying on the balcony. They decided to go outside for a moment, it was almost night by the moment and a slight breeze was blowing. 

Louis was the first to step out in the balcony, “missed us much, Zayn?”

“What does someone have to do to have a moment alone without you, Louis, god.” 

“You just hurt my feelings, bro, I hope you know that.” Louis said with a fake hurt tone. He rested his arms against the balcony and looked down the street. Liam suddenly saw him wave at someone. 

“Who are you waving at, Lou?” there weren’t any people on the street except from some homeless guy on the opposite sidewalk. And suddenly he saw the guy waving back. 

“That guy.” Louis pointed at him. “Everyone around here knows him, his name’s Niall.” 

“Oh.” Liam frowned, he never liked people who lived on the street, not because he was judging them, quite the opposite actually, it made him feel… sad. 

“Oh, don’t give him that look, Liam, I know what you’re thinking.” 

“It’s just… I don’t know, it makes me uncomfortable to see him there, it’s fucking hot here, and what about winter? How does he manage not to get sick? What does he eat? Where does he sleep?”

“Relax, mate.” Zayn said, exhaling smoke. “People always give him things. He asks for money sometimes, and some people are nice enough to give him some. He’s nice. Doesn’t talk too much though.” 

_‘Yeah, I’ll talk non stop if I were in his situation, what the fuck’_ , Liam let out a sigh. “How old is that man anyways?”

Louis laughed, “He’s not a man. He’s nineteen.” 

Liam turned his face to Louis, his eyes wide in surprise. “Nineteen?! How the fuck does someone end up in the streets at nineteen?!” 

“I don’t really know,” Louis shrugged, “he’s been there since I moved here, so…” 

Liam looked at the guy there, _‘Niall’_ he thought, he was just sitting there, rummaging through some boxes he had with him. He was wearing some worn out shorts and a stained t-shirt and some old sneakers. He frowned at the thought at being nineteen and being through that. Did he not have a family? What about his parents? Friends? Anyone?

He decided to go back inside because it was it outside and he was starting to sweat and a minute later Louis and Zayn went back inside too. 

They ordered pizza and and chat some more until it was time for the boys to go back home. He said goodbye with a half hug and they promised to visit soon again.

He went to bed happy because he had seen Louis again after all this time, it was always good, funny lad. And Zayn was nice enough too, he didn’t talk that much but maybe it was because he didn’t really know Liam? Hopefully they’ll grow to be friends. 

His head hit the pillow and he didn’t even had enough time to think about anything before he was asleep. It had been a long day. And uni was going to start this week so he’ll better rest enough before he’ll need to start studying non stop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At night when he went to bed happy because he’d made something good for someone that day. He remembered his short conversation with Niall and how his eyes lightened up when he gave him food and his smile and his laugh and for some reason it made him smile and feel all warm and although he loved that feeling he didn’t knew why he was feeling like that and he wasn’t sure of the reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My exams are over, yayyyy! So I'm happy because of that so you get an update and this chapter is longer that the first one, hopefully it's good enough! Let me know what you think! (: x

Before Liam had time to think about it, the week passed in a blink of his eyes between tidying his new flat, seeing Louis and going out to know the city a little more, and soon, he was already in uni. His first day ever. If he was honest, it was kind of boring, but that was because first year was about learning about the human body, muscles and bones and stuff. 

The classes were crowded with people, really, he knew medicine was one of the most studied careers but this was madness. He still got early so he could pick a seat close enough to the teacher so he could listen to the class carefully, he knew he wouldn’t be able to do that if was sitting at the back of the class. 

The first year consisted of six subjects, but he decided to take only four of them because he didn’t think he was going to be able to passed them all while working. Four was enough, right? So he decided anatomy, physiology, neuroanatomy and biochemistry. They were all three or four hours long, and each of them was twice a week, which meant he had to go to uni four times a week. Fortunately, it was from Mondays to Thursdays, and he had his Fridays free, like a long weekend, he had to work but hey, it’s a day without uni. The thing was that he had really messy timetables, so he had to readjust his working hours so he could go to uni. On Mondays and Wednesdays he had classes all afternoon, as they were the same subjects, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays he had a class in the morning and one at night, which means he worked in the afternoon, so uni, work, uni again. But okay, he’ll have to live with that. 

So, eventually his first day was over and it was good enough. He’d met some people, he didn’t think he could be friends with them but you’ll never know, but at least he could have someone to talk about when he was in there or if he needed something or someone to study with.

He took the bus to go back home, which he hated because it was still summer and he hated crowded places in summer, sweaty and smelly bodies weren’t his favorite thing.

His stop was just about the corner of his building so he had to walk just one block. It was almost eight, as his classes were from one to seven, with all the traveling and that. He decided he’ll just buy some already cooked dinner, he didn’t want to cook now, he was tired. So he went to this little restaurant that was on the opposite street and bought some roasted chicken and some salad to take home. 

As he exited the place and headed back home, he walked past this Niall guy. He looked at him and gave him a small smile and a short nod which the boy gave back. 

The boy was blond, well, dyed blond, with brown roots and Liam though he saw he had blue eyes but couldn’t really say if they were. And that was the first time he made some kind of “contact” with the boy, if you want to call it like that. Sometimes he’ll just go out to the balcony and look down to see if the boy was okay. He couldn’t help it, it wasn’t personal or anything, he was just really caring about people in general. 

And from that moment, he started smiling more to the boy until one day he said hi to him. And it all went downhill from there. 

The first time he said hello to the boy had been when he was coming home from uni on a Thursday night (thank God he didn’t have to go again until Monday, he was exhausted already and it was only a month) when he saw the blond eating sitting in the floor as he always was and eating some soup. 

“Hey” Liam said and gave him a small smile as he did every day. 

The blond looked up to him and gave him a nod with his head, “Hi.”

And that was it, it went like that for some weeks, maybe a month? A casual “how’re you doing?” from time to time, maybe. Liam noticed that the blond started smiling a lot more to him with time. Maybe it was because he was nice and always greeted him. It was a shame that smile wouldn’t reach his eyes. Liam discovered that the boy’s eyes were, in fact, blue. A pretty blue, by the way. 

Sometimes he found himself in the balcony, just sitting there, looking at the boy. 

Niall knew the boy was looking at him, but there was nothing he could do about, right? It was kind of weird at first, he felt like someone was observing him, well, he was being observed, but it’s not like the brown haired boy was stalking him or something, or at least that’s what he hoped. He thought the boy was kind, brown eyes and a nice smile and his voice was deep. 

*

It was Friday, Liam’s only day without uni, and it was one o’clock, the time he came back from work. After saying hi to Niall as he did everyday, he found himself opening the door to enter his building when he heard someone yelling at him, “Liam!”, wait, he knew that voice, but it couldn’t be… right?

“Liam!” he heard again, following by steps of someone running. 

He turned around to see tall boy curly hair in some kind of weird quiff and clumsy legs walking quickly towards him.

“Harry?!” he almost yelled.

The tall boy smiled at him and hugged him when he found himself face to face with Liam. 

“Harry, what the hell are you doing here?!” 

“I decided to come visit for the weekend, you know I’m moving here to start studying the next semester, so I thought I should come and see the city” he ended with a shrug and then smiled charming at him.

“Oh, no, don’t give me that smile, what are you going to ask me for?” 

“Nothing, really, I just thought I was going to stay with you for the weekend, that’s what I told my mum anyways” he laughed. 

“Oh, of course you can stay. Come on, let’s go inside.” 

Niall watched the two boys walk inside the building with a melancholic expression and sighed, he wished he had a friend, but this was all his fault, right? For being so stupid and believing in love. 

*

Liam opened the door to his flat and let Harry in. 

“It’s nice,” Harry said, “it looks comfy enough.”

“Yeah, it is.” Liam said. 

“Can we call Louis?” Harry said suddenly and very excited. 

“I should’ve known that’s why you’re here, no one ever misses Liam, right?” he said and faked a sad expression and a pout.

Harry looked at him, “oh, come on, bro, I missed you too! I’ve known you longer I just haven’t seen you in two months, I haven’t seen Louis in over a year!” 

Liam rolled his eyes but laughed anyways, “you talked to him almost everyday still, right?” 

“Of course I did.”

“Yeah, I imagined. I’ll call him.” 

“Okay, but don’t tell him I’m here so it’s a surprise.”

Liam snorted, “you’re such a kid, Harry.” The tall boy beamed at him. 

Liam took his phone out and dialed Louis number, it took him two tries for Louis to answer and when he did, Liam went straight to the point. “Hey Lou, can you come over mine? I have a surprise for you” Liam said looking at Harry’s happy expression. 

Louis agreed and some minutes after they ended the call, there was a knock on his door, apparently he was around because it was like, five minutes since Liam talked to him.

Liam opened the door and Louis entered the flat and saw someone’s back and curly hair sitting on the sofa. His eyes went wide in realization. 

“HARRY?!” 

The younger boy turned around to see a very surprised Louis. “Hey, Lou.” He said. 

Louis tackled the boy and they almost fall to the floor. “Oh my God, what are you doing here, Harry? I haven’t seen you in like forever, I missed you so much!” 

“I just thought I’ll visit for the weekend, know the city and all” Harry said with a shrug and smiled.

“Are you moving here too?”

“Yep, I’ll be here next semester!” 

“That is so awesome! We’ll be all together, like bff’s.” Louis said in a high pitched voice. 

Liam looked at him with a _‘what the fuck are you saying’_ look before cracking up laughing, “bff’s?” he asked between laughs, “are we like some thirteen year old girls, Louis, oh God” he couldn’t stop laughing. 

Louis and Harry looked at him, “it wasn’t even that funny, mate.” Louis said. 

Liam stopped, still breathing quickly, “I’m sorry, I guess I’m just stressed.” 

“You’ve been living here for only two months and you’re stressed already?” Harry said, “oh God, I don’t want to think what’s waiting for me.” 

“Nah, mate, you know Liam, he just worries too much about everything. He needs to get laid.” Louis laughed and Liam stuck his tongue out.

The weekend was spent between laughs and anecdotes and stories, mostly from Louis and his stay in London since he started studying. They ate way too much fast food for Liam’s licking but who cares. Harry too, got to meet Zayn and they clicked rapidly so their lives couldn’t be any better at that point. They went out, Louis and Zayn showed Liam and Harry every place tourist were taken and they even convinced Liam to go out on Saturday night. No need to say that Louis, Zayn and Harry were wasted, Liam drank some things here and there, and yeah, he was kind of tipsy but nowhere near the rest of the boys, still he had a good laugh, and that was the most they could get out of him because Liam almost never party let alone get drunk, opposite to the rest of them. 

But sadly the weekend was over quickly and the boys were taking Harry to the bus station to go back home. 

“I’ll see you guys in a couple of months, don’t miss me too much, alright?” Harry said while giving each of them a hug.

“We won’t, don’t worry.” Liam said.

“Asshole.” Harry said laughing and punched him in the shoulder.

They watched him getting on the bus and once it left, they headed back home. 

The only bus Liam could take from the bus station, left him three blocks away from his home. _‘Thank God I brought a sweater’_ Liam thought as he put the piece of clothe on because it was really windy and the sky was threatening to start raining. 

As it was now some routine, he went to the small restaurant to buy something to eat. He decided on some steak and fries. 

After he paid the girl in the cash register, who was now like a friend, because he almost lived in that place, he headed out of the door and what he saw broke his heart. There he was, the blond boy he found himself kind of fond for some reason he didn’t really understand, asking for money, or food. _‘Do you have something to eat?’_ or _‘Do you happen to have some change?’_ Niall asked the people walking by. He didn’t know why he felt so bad about it, he knew the boy did it because well, he had to eat someway but it was… terrible to see, heartbreaking, he wanted to give him all his money and a large plate of food and see him smile. _‘Wait, what?’_ Liam thought after that, why was he suddenly so preoccupied about the blond? 

When he was about to walk in front of him, Niall looked down. Liam just stood there in front of him. “Uhm… hi?”

“Hi” Niall said without looking up.

Liam took a step closer and place the little bag with his food in front of Niall. “You can have it.” 

Niall looked at the bag placed in front of him and then up to Liam. “You don’t have to” and then pushed the bag closer to Liam again looking at the floor. 

Liam rolled his eyes and pushed the bag closer to Niall again, “I want you to.”

The blond boy looked up again, “but what-“ Liam cut him off with a gesture of his hand.

“Don’t worry about it, you can have it, really.” 

“You sure?”

“Yes.” He said and rolled his eyes with a smile. “Oh, let me get you a knife and a fork” Liam said and before Niall could say something he was already trotting inside the small restaurant. 

A minute later Liam was again inside of Niall and handed him some disposable cutlery and a bottle of juice. 

“Uh, I bought you orange juice, I don’t know if you like it but uhm, yeah…” Liam said and scratched his neck.

Niall smiled at him, like, a real smile, “I do. Thank you so much kind stranger whose name I don’t know.” He said still smiling but flushing a little. 

Liam laughed in a way that made Niall’s inside feel warm, “My name’s Liam.”

 _‘Liam’_ repeated Niall in his head, “Okay. Thank you then, Liam, you’re very kind.” 

Liam blushed a little but smiled anyways, “uh, yeah, you’re welcome. I’m going now, uhm, enjoy your meal, I guess?”

Niall laughed, “I will, thank you, again.” 

Liam gave him a small nod and headed back home. 

Once inside his flat he just made a sandwich because he didn’t feel like cooking (when did he, really?) and he wasn’t even that hungry anymore.  
At night when he went to bed happy because he’d made something good for someone that day. He remembered his short conversation with Niall and how his eyes lightened up when he gave him food and his smile and his laugh and for some reason it made him smile and feel all warm and although he loved that feeling he didn’t knew why he was feeling like that and he wasn’t sure of the reasons. 

*

It went like that for a couple of months. At first he’ll buy something for himself but he’ll end up giving it to Niall. Not every day though, he didn’t want Niall to think he was some kind of stalker or that he was “looking after” him in some way (even though maybe he was). The first couple of times Niall will always say no because he didn’t want to bother the brown haired boy but then he just gave up, knowing Liam would find a way for him to accept it. So he was more than happy that someone paid him enough attention and was kind enough too. And after that Liam just started buying two dishes and gave one to Niall. He remembered how the blond boy had blushed when he told him he had bought him something. It was cute. To be fair honest, Liam thought the guy was cute. Niall wished there was a way he could repay Liam for being such an amazing human being but that would have to wait… quite some time if things stayed the same. 

The days Liam got out of uni in the afternoon, he’ll go to Starbucks and buy himself some coffee and then something for Niall. He remembered the first time he intended on buying him something but he didn’t know what kind of coffee to buy of if the guy even liked coffee, so he went for a hot chocolate. It was almost autumn already and it was starting to get cold outside by that time and he thought something warm would be good for the boy. 

Once he was in the street, he approached Niall. “I bought you something.”

Niall looked at him and frowned his eyebrows a little, “you did?”

“Yeah, uhm… here” Liam said, handling the blond a paper bag and the cup. “I didn’t know if you like coffee or what kind of coffee you liked so I bought you chocolate, hope that’s okay. It’s good because it’s cold and yeah… you know. And that’s a cinnamon roll, everyone likes cinnamon rolls, right?” 

Niall laughed at the explanation and how nervous Liam looked, “you bought this for me, really? Wow. Thank you a lot, Liam. But you don’t have to feed me, you know?” 

“I know but… “ _‘but what?’_ Liam thought, “I don’t know, it just happens” he ended shrugging. 

“Well, thanks then.” 

Liam nodded and turned away to go home. 

He kept on buying him things, he even gave him some old blanket he didn’t use for when it was really cold, you know, autumn was not being really nice lately. Niall was so thankful for it he wanted to hug Liam but he didn’t look really good and he didn’t even want to think about how he smelled. He did go to shelters from time to time, they gave him food, sometimes he could sleep there and they let him have a shower. God bless them. 

It happened one time that Liam had bought him his usual hot chocolate (but this time with a muffin because there weren’t any cinnamon rolls left) but when he got to Niall’s spot, he wasn’t there. His things were, but there was no sign of the boy. If he left everything there then it meant he was going back, right? He felt his stomach churning at the thought of the blond leaving and not coming back. Anyways, he pushed that thought to the back of his mind and looked for a piece of paper and a pen through his back and wrote a quick note, put it inside the paper bag, left it there for Niall and went home. 

When Niall got to his spot, he saw the Starbucks bag and a cup, and this time was the bigger one, _‘God bless Liam’s heart’_ Niall thought. He sat and went to take his cinnamon roll out of the bag but first, his hand found a paper, which he took out and read: _‘Hope it’s not too cold when you get here. Liam (: x PS: sorry, there weren’t any rolls left. ):’_ The blond felt his heart melt at the note and smiled. He took the paper bag again and found an apple muffin. He loved apple muffins. He took his cup, and apparently Liam had been there not long ago because it was still warm. He hoped Liam would have walked by a little later or that he had arrived a little earlier so he could see the brown haired boy. 

Things were pretty much the same for quite some time and even without knowing each other because they haven’t really talked about anything really, but they were growing fond of each other without realizing it. Until one day, Niall had a bad day. And he took it out on Liam. He didn’t mean to, but it just came out like that. Maybe because Liam was the only person to ever talk to him.

“Hi, I brought yo- are you okay?” Liam asked concerned when he saw the blond sitting against the wall with his knees brought up to his chest, his arms around them and his face buried between them. 

“Go away.” 

“Okay, I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll leave this here.”

“I don’t want it. I don’t want your pity, you can take it.” He didn’t know why he had said that, he didn’t even feel that way. 

Liam frowned at those words. Well that hurt. “I… what are you talking about?” he said in a loud voice. 

Niall looked up and oh that’s why he wasn’t looki- wait, did he just yell at him? 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Niall buried his head between his knees again, “it’s okay. You’ve been very kind, it was about time you’ll get tired” his voice sounded muffled because of his knees. 

“No! No, I didn’t mean it, really, I’m sorry. Can you please look at me again?”

“No.” Niall said. 

“Please?”

“Why?”

“Doesn’t matter if you don’t, I’m bringing you something for that black eye and the cut anyways.”

Niall didn’t move for a minute but then decided to look up, he might not know Liam as a person but there was a thing he did know after this short time, and that was that he was persistent. He let out a sigh as he looked at him. 

Liam scrunched his nose in pain, that didn’t look very good, “what happened to your face?”

“Doesn’t matter” Niall said in a low voice and looked down. 

“Okay” he said, who was he to ask for any kind of explanations anyways? “I’m going to bring you something, just- wait.” 

Liam entered the building almost running and went to his room to found his first aid kit and rummaged through it for a couple of seconds until he found what he was looking for, it was some kind of ointment for bruises he used to use when he was bullied back in school. He shuddered at the memory, but that was a story for some other day.

He headed to the street again and found Niall in the same position as before. 

“Niall?” 

“How do you know my name?” he frowned a little but winced in pain so he went back to his normal expression.

“I’ve been told” Liam shrugged, “seems people around know your name” he said. 

_‘Okay, stupid question, of course everyone knows my name here’_ Niall thought but the only thing he could say was “Oh.”

Liam chuckled a little and handed Niall the small pot, “Here. This is for bruises, use it two or three times a day and that black eye should be gone in less than a week” he ended with a smile. 

Niall took the pot with some hesitancy but did nonetheless and smiled sheepishly at Liam. “Thank you” he said almost as a whisper. “But… why are you being so nice to me?”

Liam shrugged, “I… I don’t know actually, I think- I think everyone has someone to take care of, and I feel like that person is you right now? I- I know it sounds stupid and I’m sorry but… yeah.” He blushed. 

Niall just looked at him with his head tilted to his right a little, expression unreadable. “So you feel like you need to take care of me?” the blond asked, not really understanding.

“I- yeah, something like that. I don’t know, I’ve always been very caring to what it came to people, and you just look so… alone and seeing you here makes me feel bad and- nono! Don’t look at me like that, it’s not pity, I swear!” he explained himself when he saw the look on Niall’s face, “It’s just- I don’t know, there’s some major force that makes me do this and who am I to say no to that? Does it bother you?” 

Niall though for a minute, “No, it doesn’t, actually, you have no idea how thankful I am.” 

“Well then, I’m glad.” He smiled at boy. 

“You can go if you want, it’s cold out here. I’ll give you this back when I’m done using it.” 

“It’s okay” Liam shrugged, “I don’t really use it, so you can have it if you think you’ll need it.” But something inside him expected he never had to see the blond with such a horrible bruise on his face. “You don’t have any more bruises, right? Well you can use it on any part of your body anyways.” 

“No, I don’t” Niall lied, he did, he had one more on his ribs, but he wasn’t going to tell Liam about it. 

“Okay. Take care, mate.” Liam said and Niall nodded at him. 

“You too, and thank you!” he almost yelled the last words because Liam was already walking back to his warm flat. 

Niall put some of the cream on his face and winced at the pain when he touched his right eyebrow. He didn’t know how everything came to this, it was like Liam was his guardian angel, always taking care of him. Well, this was actually the first time he was literally taking care of him because of a bruise, but with all the food he has bought for Niall and always asking if he was okay and if he needed anything, when he gave him the blanket and he even gave him some old sweater Liam said he didn’t wear anymore, Niall didn’t believe him but once again, he accepted and thanked Liam. 

Of course he found himself asking for some money or for food from time to time or collecting things from the streets because Liam not always bought him food and there were days he didn’t even see Liam, but he didn’t have to, he didn’t even have to notice Niall, but he did and that made the blond happy in spite of how terrible his life was. Even though he didn’t even know Liam, he was happy to have him. Well, in some figurative kind of way.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘How the fuck did I end up so lucky?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... chapter three, woo! I'm still working on the eight chapter, I don't know why it's taking me so long to finish it, ugh.  
> Enjoy this one and let me know if you like it! (: x

It’s been now three days since Niall’s black eye incident (which Liam hoped he’ll know about some day) and his face was healing more than fine thanks to the ointment, but Liam still checked on him everyday. Niall didn’t know he was studying medicine and he thought it was because he cared, and he did. Actually it was because of both, but 99% because of what Niall thought.

It was a particularly cold and windy day and there was some drizzle starting to fall. He had met with Louis and Zayn after uni and they were heading to Liam’s for a boys night with TV and pizza.

They were walking quickly because of the cold and talking and laughing about random topics when Louis exclaimed, “holy shit!” with wide eyes.

“What?!” Liam asked alarmed.

Louis stopped walking and pointed at the other side of the street, “look at Niall!”

Liam felt something bad in his gut and turned around quickly to see the blond trembling like mad and with a hurt face, he was kind of wrapped with a blanket but it was halfway off because of how much he was trembling. He looked both sides of the streets to assure that he was not going to get hit by a car and run towards Niall, Zayn and Louis behind him. He kneeled in front of the blond and touched his forehead, his eyes going big.

“Jesus fuck, he’s burning alive!” he exclaimed, “Niall? Niall, are you alright?”

No response.

“Should we call an ambulance?” Zayn asked.

“No! I hate hospitals!” Louis almost screamed, “is there something you can do about it, Liam?”

“I- I don’t know” he said looking at the boy lying there with a worried face, “at least not here.”

“Let’s get him somewhere then. Can we get him to your apartment?” Louis asked.

“I think- yeah, okay, help me carry him.”

The three of them managed to carry him across the street and Liam took his keys out of his pocket carefully so he wouldn’t drop Niall and then they all took the lift even though Liam lived on the first floor, they weren’t about to carry a dead weight upstairs.

Once in Liam’s flat, Liam told them to help him carry the blond to the spare bedroom. Once they laid Niall on the bed, Liam looked at him with his eyebrows in a frown. He took the hoodie the boy was wearing and when he got to his hand, “Oh” he said and wrinkled his nose, “I think I know what’s going on, we’ll need a doctor.”

“What’s happening?” Zayn asked.

Liam showed them Niall’s hand and they both looked away with a “eeew”.

“I’m calling a doctor.” Liam said and took out his phone and dialed. It beeped a couple of times before a man’s voice asked him what he needed, “Hi, my name’s Liam and a, uhm, friend has a very horrible cut in his hand, I think it’s infected. He has a lot of fever and he’s passed out.”

He heard the instructions the man gave him and after an “okay, thank you” he hung up.

“What did they say?” Louis asked.

“They told me they’ll send a doctor but if he has an infection then they’ll probably have to take him to the hospital.” Liam said and Louis made a face. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“You should go anyways, though, you’ll understand the doctor’s orders better.”

Liam rolled his eyes at his friend’s comment, how hard was to understand a doctor?

“Wait,” Zayn said, “but how are we gonna do this? We don’t even know his last name, or where does he come from, we know nothing about him!”

“I’ll think about that on the way to the hospital, maybe if he wakes up I’ll ask him and then I’ll talk to the doctor, I don’t know.”

They heard the bell rang and Liam went to the door to open it.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Jenkins” he said and stuck his hand out for Liam to shake, who did, and continued, “I’ve been informed of a boy with a possible infection and high fever?”

“Yes, yes. I’m Liam. He’s over here.” He said, shutting the door closed and guiding him to the bedroom where Niall was.

“Hello, boys” the doctor said to Zayn and Louis when he entered the room.

“Hello” both boys said and gave a nod.

“Okay, let me see him” the doctor said approaching the bed, “you said he had a cut and that was the infected area? Where is it?”

“His right hand, his palm” Liam told him.

The doctor took Niall’s hand and turned it to see the palm, “well, yes, there’s no doubts this is infected. And that is probably the reason he’s having a lot of fever and he’s passed out. The weather is not helping either, you know if he has been out lately?”

The boys shared a look between them, “yes, he’s out a lot, actually” Louis answered.

 “Okay. I need to take him to the hospital. Does he have any family I need to contact? And does any of you boys want to come with him?”

Liam was about to freak out about the family thing, how was he supposed to answer that?

“Liam will go. And not that we know of, here in London at least, he’s Liam’s roommate.” Louis said with a shrug and Liam had never been so thankful for Louis acting skills.

“Okay, I’ll give him something when we are down in the ambulance so he’s up when we get to the hospital. I’ll go get the paramedic and a stretcher to get him down, okay?”

When the doctor was out the door, Liam turned to his friends, “You Louis are so good at acting,” Liam said first and Louis smiled at him, then continued, “do you think we should get his things up here? Maybe I’ll have to bring him over again after the hospital?”

“Are you really planning on bringing a homeless guy to your house, Liam?” Louis said with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t talk like that, Louis, he’s a human being too and he’s ill.”

“Yeah, well, but isn’t this going too far?”

“You know what, I’ll manage that, you can go.”

Louis sighed and rolled his eyes, “okay, you defender of the needy, we’ll get his things here.”

“Thank you.” Liam said and then the doctor was back with the paramedic.

They went downstairs and once in the ambulance, Dr. Jenkins applied something to Niall, “this will wake him up by the time we’re in the hospital.”

Liam just nodded and then turned to look at the blond boy.

“Any idea of how he got those bruises?” the doctor asked him.

“Not really, he didn’t want to tell me, but I bet he got into some fight? I gave him something for them though, they look a lot better now.”

“Okay, so we don’t have to worry about them.”

Liam shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

The rest of the ride to the hospital was quiet, but not long, the doctor was looking for some things around and scribbling something down in some papers. Once they got to the hospital, the doctor told Liam to go with Niall to the room and that he’ll be there in a couple of minutes, he’ll just have to look for the right things to clean up Niall’s hand.

The paramedic left Liam and Niall in a room, luckily it wasn’t one of those shared rooms. Niall started to open his eyes, blinking a little because of the light. He tried to sit but failed and almost fell off the bed but Liam grabbed him by the arm.

“What the-“ Niall said.

“Sh, just lay down again.”

 _‘Wait, I know that voice’_ Niall thought. He opened his eyes and look around, white walls with some little table and a chair by his side, a TV hanging on the wall and then his eyes fell on Liam.

“Why the fuck am I in a hospital?!” he asked.

“Sh, don’t need to yell at me. I’ll tell you in a minute but I need to ask you some questions before the doctor’s back, alright?”

“Uhm, okay?” Niall said very confused about whatever it was that was happening.

“So, long short story, Louis tell the doctor you are my roommate and-“

“He did what? Wait- who’s Louis?”

“My friend. Doesn’t matter right now, I’ll explain later. The thing is, they are going to ask question, hopefully they’ll ask you, but just in case, I mean, I know your name’s Niall and that’s all I know about you.”

“What else do you need to know?”

“I don’t know, your last name? Your age? Where are you from? If you have some allergies or illness, I don’t know!”

“Uhm… my full name’s Niall James Horan and I just turned twenty. I’m from Ireland. And I have some mild asthma. I guess that’s all. Oh, I’m claustrophobic, I don’t know if that counts? Can you tell me what the hell is going on now?”

“Okay, so I was-“

“Alright boys,” the doctor said, interrupting Liam, “oh, so you’re up already, good” he said looking at Niall, who was looking confused as ever. “I guess you’re confused about why are you here, by your looks, your friend here didn’t tell you yet.”

“Yes, pretty much” Niall simply said.

“Okay, so, you have this nasty cut on your right hand palm and it’s infected now and that gave you some high fever and you passed out, but I’m going to clean your hand now and then I’ll give you some meds you’ll have to take for at least a week, alright?”

Niall just sat there, looking at the doctor, trying to process all the information that has just been told to him. So he cut his hand, yes, he remembered that, but it didn’t look so terrible at that moment. Huh, guess it got worst then. How did he not noticed? Guess he was kind of oblivious to things. He turned his hand to look at it and his eyes went wide, and he moved his hand away like he could just take it off. To say it looked nasty was overrated, really, it looked terrible, when did that happen?

His train of thoughts was cut by the doctor starting to disinfect the area, to which Niall react putting his hand away with an “ow!” and grabbing Liam’s arm who was still at his side.

“Sorry.” He said to both of them, to the doctor for pulling his hand away and to Liam because, well… he just touched him. And maybe he thought he was some dirty homeless guy or something.

“No problem” Liam said with an encouraging smile and offered his arm for Niall to grab.

They spent at least ten minutes there, Dr. Jenkins making some meticulous work at cleaning the wound so it wouldn’t hurt too much. Niall hissed a little and made some weird faces because of the pain but he behaved.

Once it was done, the doctor put away all the things, “I’m going to prescribe you some meds, that would keep your body temperature normal and you should feel good. I’m going to go look for some bandages too, you’ll have to change it everyday until it’s healed. Wait here.”

“Uhm, Dr. Jenkins?” Liam said.

“Yes?”

“Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure, lets go outside.”

Niall looked at him with a confused face while Liam and the doctor walked out of the room.

Once outside, Liam sighed and started talking, “okay, I’m going to be honest with you because you deserve to know and because I’m a terrible liar.” The doctor nodded and Liam continued, “so Niall’s not really my roommate, he uh, he lives on the streets, just across from where I live, I talk to him almost everyday and stuff, that’s why he was in my flat, so I don’t think he has some kind of insurance or anything, but I’ll pay for whatever he needs.”

“Well that’s very kind of you, Liam. I’ll see if there’s a way to cut some expenses.”

Liam smiled at him, “I guess it’s just my inner doctor, I’m studying medicine, you know. And thank you.”

“No problem, you can go back inside now, I’ll go get the bandages and I’ll see if I can get the meds so you don’t have to buy them.”

“Okay. Thanks, doctor.”

And with that the doctor started walking through the hallway and Liam opened the door to Niall’s room again.

“Is everything okay?” the blond asked.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Liam answered with a reassuring smile.

“I’m sorry.” Niall said suddenly.

“What for?” Liam asked, his eyebrows frowned in confusion.

“For causing you all this trouble, you didn’t have to bring me here, you could have just let me die there.”

Liam’s face went serious, “I would never do that, nobody deserves that. Plus, what will that say about me being a future doctor?”

“You’re studying to be a doctor?”

“Yeah, I like the idea of saving people’s lives.”

“Well, you just saved mine.” Niall said in a low voice and smiled sheepishly.

Dr. Jenkins came back to the room and handed Liam the meds and a paper with the medical bill, “so, here’s everything you’ll need, you can buy more bandages in a pharmacy because I couldn’t find any now, I’m sorry, don’t forget to change it every day. Liam, do you know how to change them?”

“I do.”

“You’re one step closer to being a doctor.” The doctor smiled and Liam laughed. “I’ll just leave you guys, don’t hesitate to come see me if anything happens.”

“Okay, thank you.” Liam said.

“Take care, Niall.”

“Thanks, doctor.” He said back. And then the doctor was out of the room.

“Okay, just stay here for a minute, I need to go take care of something, alright? I’ll be right back.” Liam told him and Niall nodded.

Liam got out of the room quickly and went to the hospital’s administration to pay for the bill and a couple of minutes later he was in the room again.

“Okay, we’re ready to go now.”

They headed out of the room and walked through the hallway and downstairs, they were just on the first floor. They headed out of the building and Niall stopped walking.

“Okay, so, thank you for bringing me here and everything, you’re free to go now.” He told Liam who could see some kind of hurt or sadness in his eyes.

“What are you talking about, I’m not about to let you go like that now.”

“Well what am I supposed to do, then?”

“Well I was taking you back to mine.”

“What? No, no, you don’t have to- no.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t just go and stay there.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s your house and I’m not about to invade your space.”

Liam rolled his eyes, “Doesn’t matter, your things are already there anyways.”

Niall frowned his eyebrows, “what do you mean my things are at your house? How did they get there?”

“I’ll tell you on the way, okay, I’m freezing here.”

Liam stopped a taxi and told the driver his address and then proceeded to tell Niall about how they had found him lying on the street with a raging fever and that it scared the shit out of him because just the day before he looked good and how he brought them to his house with Louis and Zayn’s help, and that they were the ones who carried his things to Liam’s. The taxi driver gave him a weird look when he heard the story but he ignored him.

 The car stopped in front of Liam’s building and he paid for the taxi and got inside. They went upstairs and Liam opened the door to his flat.

“Make yourself at home” Liam told the blond boy leaving his keys in a small table by the door. He went to the kitchen to make some coffee, he needed it after today and Niall just stood there by the door. “You can sit if you want, or go to the spare bedroom, your things are already there, it’s the door on the right” Niall heard Liam told him from the kitchen.

“I’ll just sit here, thank you” he said, sitting in the sofa in front of the TV.

“Okay. You want something to drink or to eat? Have you eaten something today?”

“Uhm, no…”

“I’ll make you something then, you can turn on the TV if you want.”

He did but he wasn’t really paying attention to it, he was a little overwhelmed by Liam’s hospitality to be honest, really, how could someone be so kind? He was taking care of him, he was offering his house to him, for God’s sake. He couldn’t help but to feel like maybe he loved him a little.

Liam appeared a couple of minutes later with a tray with a mug of coffee and some sandwiches. “There you go, hope that’s good for now, it’s already dinner time but I’m shit at cooking and I don’t feel like eating so I made you these, I’ll buy you something tomorrow, I promise.”

“It’s okay, thanks.”

“No problem. It’s already eight, do you want to take your meds now? I’ll wake you up in the mornings before I go to work so you can take them again.”

“Mhm” Niall replied not really paying attention to him because he was concentrating on his food.

Then there was silence. Not very comfortable but it wasn’t that awkward silence either.

“So, uhm… I’m going to take a shower before going to bed, you can have one afterwards, okay?”

“Sure” he smiled at him and saw Liam walking towards the bathroom. “Uh, Liam?”

The brown haired boy turned to look at him, “yes?”

“Thank you. For uhm, everything” Niall said, his cheeks pink.

Liam smiled at him, “I told you, no worries, mate.”

*

The next morning Liam woke up and made himself some breakfast, coffee, because he couldn’t start his days without his morning coffee and a toast. He brushed his teeth and changed his clothes and just when he was about to open the door to leave, he remembered he had to wake Niall to take his meds, thank God he always left a little earlier.

He went to his medicine cabinet and took one pill out and then went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and walked towards his spare bedroom. He opened the door quietly and placed the glass and the pill on the bedside table. He look at the blond boy tangled between the blankets, his blond hair and his peaceful expression, he wondered how long it had been since he actually slept on a bed. He felt his heart racing a little bit faster at the sight, he couldn’t help but to think how cute the boy was and that maybe deep inside, he liked him a little and that was the reason he did everything he was doing.

He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and placed a hand on Niall’s shoulder above the blankets and shook him a little, “Niall, mate, wake up.” The blond boy groaned and tried to turned around but Liam hold him still. “Come on, Niall, wake up and take your pill so I can go to work.” He said quietly.

Niall opened his eyes, “Okay. Sorry.”

 _‘Jesus fuck, that accent’_ Liam thought. It was certainly a lot thicker in the mornings because of the sleep. He watched Niall swallow the small white pill with the glass of water and then added, “I’ll be back at midday with some lunch, I don’t go to uni today, and I’ll change your bandage, alright? I left my cell phone number by the phone in case you need something.”

Niall looked at him trying to process everything the boy just told him in his sleepy head and then nodded, “okay, thanks Liam.”

“You’re welcome, go back to sleep” he said with a smile.

Liam left and took a taxi because he didn’t want to be late for work, and fortunately, he arrived just in time. The morning passed quickly between phone calls, meetings to organize and paper work and when the clock indicated one o’clock, Liam left. It was a sunny day but still cold, he was in the mood for some chicken soup, so he bought some for him and Niall on the way home.

When he opened the door to his flat, he found Niall wrapped in a blanket watching TV in the sofa and he turned around when he heard the door clicked shut and smiled at Liam, “hi.”

“Hi there, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good, my hand hurts a little but I think the fever’s gone.”

“That’s great. I bought chicken soup, I don’t know if you like it but it’s cold outside and I just felt like one and yeah… I can buy you some other thing if you don’t want it.”

Niall shook his head and smile, “it’s okay, I like everything, really. Except vegemite, I hate vegemite” the blond finished his sentence with a disgusted face that made Liam laugh.

“I’ve never tried that.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to” he told him laughing.

“Okay, so let’s eat first and then I’ll get to the bandage thing, alright? Or do you want me to do it now?”

“Nah, it’s okay.”

They ate in silence while watching some comedy on TV, laughing at some jokes occasionally. When they were done eating Liam got up and took everything to the kitchen, he’ll wash later, and then took out of his bag the new bandages he had bought on his way home too.

“Okay, give me your hand” he told Niall and the boy did. “This might hurt a little, okay, but I’ll be as careful as I can.”

Niall watched Liam while he held his hand and carefully took out the used bandage and put a new on, not pressing a lot but just enough so it wouldn’t be loose. He hissed a little at the beginning but it was okay. He watched how Liam’s eyebrows frowned in concentration and how he moved his hands carefully not to hurt him. _‘How the fuck did I end up so lucky?’_ Niall thought, he wanted to know more about the boy who was literally his savior.

“Uhm, Liam?” he said when the older boy had finished.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think I can, uhm… ask you some questions? Like, about you. I feel like an intruder and I don’t even know anything about you.”

“Sure” Liam said with a shrug and then his phone started ringing, “just a minute, alright?” Niall nodded.

Liam answered the phone and heard him talking and laughing with whoever was he was talking to. He wished he could make Liam laugh like that. _‘Wait, what?’_ he thought to himself.

A couple of minutes later Liam hung up the phone, “that was Louis, he wanted to know if you were alright.”

“Oh. You’re all such nice people, I’m so lucky.”

“Yeah, you are.” Liam laughed. “Okay, ask me.” He said and sat back next to Niall on the sofa.

“Uhm, I don’t know, just tell me whatever you feel like you want me to know” he shrugged.

“Okay, but if you tell me about you later.”

“Fair enough.”

“Okay, uhm, Liam James Payne, hello, yes, we have the same middle name. I’m twenty, I’m from Wolverhampton and I’m studying medicine, you already know that. I work in an office with some people I don’t really like but the payment is good, I don’t really have to pay for uni because my parents had saved for it already and this flat was a gift so I just spend money on food and-“

“Me” Niall said and looked down.

“Hey,” Liam said and lifted Niall’s face with his hand so he could look in his eyes, “I told you like a million times already, that’s not a problem, and I like taking care of you as awkward and stalker that sounds.”

Niall smiled, “well I like it a bit, it makes me feel a little loved, to be honest” he told the brown haired boy with a light blush.

“That’s good.” He smiled at him. “Well, that’s everything about me, really, I’m not that interesting, so how about you?”

“Uhm… okay, I’m going to tell you because you’ve been so kind and so nice to me, I think you deserve to know, but it’s the most stupid thing ever so you can laugh if you want to.”

“I won’t.”

“Okay, I’ve already told you I’m twenty, right? So… I ran away from home when I was seventeen, and yes, home as in, Ireland. The reason it’s stupid and I feel like I want to jump in front of train whenever I remember because I can’t believe I was so naïve and dumb. You know, I’ve always had a good relationship with my parents and my brother, he’s older than me, in case you were wondering, but at that time I was being a rebel and we were always yelling at each other and I just wanted to get away from them. A year before that I’ve met this girl in school, but she was just there for a year, she was in an exchange program, but I liked her a lot, and she was from London, from the suburbs, you know where the city starts to turn into a nice town and there are big houses and that? Well, she lived there. And we really clicked and we talked almost everyday and I was saving money to come visit her in the holidays but one day I just had this really bad fight with my parents and my dad kind of hit me and I decided I had enough, so I took the money I had, packed some clothes and left. I know it wasn’t my dad’s intention but it just kind of happened and I snapped. I bought a flight ticket to come here and surprised her, she was happy to see me and I was happy to see her, I loved her. Well, that’s what I thought, she ended up being a bitch. She told me I couldn’t stay at her house because her parents didn’t know about me and blahblahblah so I rented a little room in some cheap motel, I wasn’t going to spend too much time there so there was no point in spending money on an expensive hotel. The thing was that we were out all day all the time and one day her parents and his big brother were out for a night so we decided to stay at hers. And yeah, that’s when it all came to shit. We didn’t know when her parents were going to be back but we assumed it was going to be late so yeah… it wasn’t. And uhm, wow, this is so embarrassing. His father, uhm, walked in on us having sex.”

“Oh my God” Liam said, eyes wide.

“Yeah… I tried to leave quickly but his brother caught me before I left and took me out of the house. He beat the shit out of me, literally. I was almost a whole week in the hospital, and by the time I came out, I went to the motel to found that they had thrown my things except for my phone, which they sold, because I hadn’t been there for a week and I hadn’t paid. I tried and went back to her house to talk to her, I tried so hard but then her brother told me _‘should’ve think about that twice before fucking my sister’_ and she said she didn’t care about me anymore and not to bother her because I was pathetic. And I then I had literally nothing, I had no family, no friends, no place to live, I was bankrupt, heartbroken and alone. So that’s when it all started, I tried and looked for a job but nobody wanted me and I never got one and yeah, you already know the rest because it’s been the same until now. It was difficult at first, I remembered being scared as fuck because I was still a teenager and I didn’t even know what I was doing and apparently there were rules about living on the streets, I got beaten up enough times.” Niall finished with a sad expression.

“That’s why you had those bruises on your face last week?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s… jeez, I don’t even know what to say.”

“It’s stupid, I told you.”

“What about your parents? Have you tried talking to them?”

“Yeah, once, but they were so angry at me for running away they said I was being a rebel and they didn’t know what to do with me anymore and told me not to go back, so that’s what I did” he finished with a sad smile. Liam could see his eyes starting to water. “I just can’t believe I was so naïve, what the hell was I thinking? That everything will go okay and that I’ll marry her and I’ll have a house and everyone will be happy? I don’t even know. Being young makes you stupid.”

“Well, you made a mistake. A big one, but hey, you’re fine now, you’re safe.”

“Yeah, but for how long?”

 _‘Forever if you let me’_ Liam thought, and then _‘What the fuck is happening to me?’_

“Well, you’re staying here now, we’ll take it day by day, alright?” Liam said putting a hand on Niall’s shoulder and squeezing a little.

“Yeah, and when I’m healed then you’re going to kick me out just as everyone did and then I’ll be back to the start.”

Liam frowned, “I’m not doing that. I like you too much already to kick you out.”

Niall lifted his gaze and look at Liam straight in the eyes, “really?” he said, almost a whisper.

“Uh… yeah” Liam said, almost blushing.

“I like you too, Liam” Niall told him with a sheepish smile.

And after that they just spent the day just watching stupid shows on TV and laughing, playing Xbox and chatting, a lot more comfortable around each other now that they knew the other one a little better.

*

The days went by and Liam found himself growing fond of the blond rapidly. Danielle even went to visit him once and noticed.

“You like him, right Liam?”

“Well, yeah, I wouldn’t have someone living with me if I didn’t like them.”

“No, Liam, you like _like_ him, right?”

Liam blushed, “I… I don’t know. I think I do.”

Danielle smiled sweetly at him, “I’m happy for you, you know. You deserve someone who cares about you and that boy obviously does.”

“I don’t think he likes me the same way though. And are you not angry or disgusted because, well… I like a guy?”

Danielle rolled her eyes, “you never told me but you can’t lie to me Liam, you’ve always liked guys. Well, girls too, both.”

Liam looked at the girl with a surprised face, “how did you- how did you know?”

“Female intuition, I guess” she answered with a shrug and they both laughed.

By the night, just before dinner, Danielle left leaving the two boys alone again.

“I’m sorry about Dani, I didn’t know she was coming.” Liam told the blond while picking on his food.

“It’s okay, she’s nice, she’s pretty too.”

Liam smiled looking down, “yeah, she is.”

“You like her, right?”

Liam lifted his eyes to look at Niall, “like her how?” he asked.

Niall chuckled, “the way you like girls?” he said raising an eyebrow.

“Oh. No, she’s my ex, actually.”

Niall’s eyes went wide and blushed, “oh, I’m- I’m sorry, I didn’t –“ Liam cut his off waving his hand.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay.”

*

It was ten days since Niall had been to the hospital and his hand was already healed, he didn’t have to take his meds anymore and he was feeling good. The past days had been amazing, well, at least better than these past few years. Liam was a great guy, he really cared about him, he always asked him if he was feeling okay, if he needed something, he bought him food and he gave him some of his clothes to wear, jeez, he gave him a place to live. He felt comfortable around him and he liked Liam a lot. Well, that was all until his mind went on overdrive and started overthinking. What if Liam wanted to get rid of him but didn’t know how? He didn’t want to be a bother. And everything he was feeling towards the older boy lately was overwhelming, sometimes he couldn’t help but stare at him while he was reading or studying or doing anything, really, he just found him fascinating, the way he frowns when he concentrates, the way his voice sounds in the morning, how he was completely shit at cooking, how he always was asking Niall if he was feeling good and if he needed something, every little thing he did gave Niall’s heart a reason to melt a little more. Could he… could he be in love with him? That wasn’t possible, he didn’t knew him for long enough, but at the same time, the first time he saw him in the street though… it was like love at first sight, even if he didn’t believe in that. He was scared to death about the way he felt, he didn’t want to go through everything back again, but at the same time, he wanted to know if Liam cared enough about him to look for him. It was time for him to leave.

Liam was out in uni and he wouldn’t be back for a couple of hours, so he took a bag and put away some things and scribbled down a note in a paper and left it on the kitchen table. He didn’t want to leave Liam, he –somehow– loved him, but he needed to know if he was safe with him. So after leaving the note, he opened the door and left.

*

Around eight at night, Liam got home as usual with a bag with food for him and Niall and frowned when he noticed that all the lights in the house where off. He went to Niall’s room, nothing. He knocked on the bathroom door and opened it when no one answered, nothing. He looked in his room, even though he knew Niall never went there, nothing. He was starting to freak out, he never left the house, but… he went to the kitchen and when he turned the light on, there it was, a paper folded on the table, his name on it. He unfolded the paper and there were just a few lines written down. He felt his heart stop. Niall was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And there it was again, Liam. Everything was Liam lately, he just couldn’t help it.

“I’m sorry for being a bother, I won’t be a problem anymore. Thank you for everything, Liam, have a good life. Niall.” Louis read the note aloud while Liam was sitting in a chair in the kitchen, face buried in his hands, looking miserable. Louis rolled his eyes at him. “Stop looking so miserable, Liam, and get up your ass, let’s go look for your boy.”

Liam raised his head and frowned, “he’s not my boy.”

Louis rolled his eyes again, “whatever you say, mate.”

“No, seriously, Louis, I don’t know what you’re thinking but-“

“Stop that, Liam, I think we all figured it out by now that you’re smitten with the boy, no need to lie about it.”

“But how-“

“It’s pretty obvious,” Louis said with a shrug, “the way you look at him, just like Zayn looks at his girlfriend, there’s just… something in your eyes, I don’t know how to explain it. And don’t even get me started on how he looks at you.” Louis said and turned around to go to the door.

“Wait!” Liam exclaimed and Louis turned to him again, raising an eyebrow as if asking what did he want, “how does he look at me?” Liam asked with a light blush.

His friend smiled big at him, “I don’t know, like the sun shines out of your ass, it’s so cute sometimes I want to throw up” he ended up laughing.

“Shut up," Liam said but smiled a little anyways. “Doesn’t it bother you?”

“What? That you like a guy?”

“Yes…”

“Nah, mate, I already knew.”

“Why do I keep getting that answer?!” Liam exclaimed.

Louis laughed, “you’re not good at hiding it. Also, I knew about your little hook up last year while you were finishing high school, I just never mentioned it because you never did.”

Liam felt his cheeks heating up, “but- but how did you know?”

“Oh, I have my ways. Now that’s not important, okay? Let’s go find this boy.” He said and Liam nodded.

They put their coats on and headed to the streets. Liam had called Louis as soon as he read the note, he was desperate, he was about to start crying and when Louis got to his flat he was just sitting there with an unreadable expression, like he couldn’t comprehend whatever it was that was happening. Because after every time Liam has told Niall he was okay, more than okay with taking care of him, he just… he just left. And Liam felt like his heart was slowly breaking, he didn’t know that what he felt for the blond boy was so strong, but anyone says that you don’t know what you really have until you lost it, right? Well, just like that. He hoped they’ll find him soon. It was late already as he found the note once he came home after his afternoon classes.

Louis had called Zayn so he’ll help them too and at first he was like “I’m with my girlfriend, mate, what do you want?” but when Louis told him the story, the dark haired boy was already more than happy to help, and so was his girlfriend.

“Do you think we should look in separate ways?”

“I don’t even know where to look.” Liam said with a sad voice.

“Just… I don’t know, shelters, hospitals, just around the city while we think about something else. We can’t even report he’s missing yet, ugh.”

“I know” Liam sighed.

“Okay, let’s just go separate way, just call me if you know something, alright?”

“Sure I’ll do. I’ll let Zayn know too. And Li?”

“Yeah?”

“We’ll find him, yeah? Don’t worry.”

Louis had that feeling that they will even though there were a million places where you could go in London, but he still didn’t know why had the blond left his friend, he thought he was happy there, he had a roof, food everyday, he was warm, he had a bed to sleep on every night and well… Liam, who loved him, which was the most important thing. It was actually sickening cute how smitten they were with each other but it was bloody ridiculous how they were completely oblivious to the fact, he hoped they’ll realize soon or he’ll take matters into his own hands.

He had called Zayn again, told him he had split ways with Liam and Zayn told him he’ll look around his neighborhood, as he lived a little further away from where Louis and Liam lived.

Louis started with hospitals, even though it was a long shot to find him in one because why would he be in a hospital if nothing wrong had happened to him? Or at least he hoped nothing had happened to him. So he asked here and there for the blond boy but no such luck.

He tried with shelters, unfortunately, he didn’t know many but he went there and asked anyways. Everytime he entered one, he got everyone’s look of _‘what is this guy doing here at this hour?’_ like, was there something wrong with it? Was there some kind of rule of not visiting shelters for homeless people at night? Or at all? He literally had no idea, this was like a new world for him. Anyways, when he had asked about Niall, some people had told him that they knew him, that he’d been there sometime in the past, but they hadn’t seen him lately. Louis felt his mood dropping a little more everytime he left a shelter without news of the boy. And it was cold, and it was late, and he had really wanted to go home, but he was not going to give up. But if he was to be honest, he was starting to get worried, he had tried to cheer Liam up but really, where could Niall have gone?

Zayn was exactly in the same situation. The neighborhood he lived in wasn’t as nice or pretty as where Liam and Louis lived, there were a lot more people on the streets. He wanted to ask them about the boy, maybe they knew him? Or maybe they had seen him. But he was a little scared of them, to be honest, they didn’t seem friendly at all, not a little friendly like Niall. Well, Niall looked defenseless most of the time and that was why most people took pity on him. Until Liam. He was still surprised about how everything had gone this far so fast. He knew Liam liked Niall and that the blond was in the same situation, he was not stupid, but what the fuck had happened inside Niall’s head that made him want to leave? Zayn knew the feeling of being alone, the difference was that he liked to be alone, it was his choice, he didn’t think Niall’s was his own choice.

After walking around for some time, looking on the streets, he decided he’ll look in the shelters around, there were quite a few around. Luckily, his girlfriend was there to support him.

He got the same answers as Louis did, some people knew him but no one had seen him around lately. He was starting to smoke like a chimney again, that couldn’t be any good.

*

Meanwhile, Niall had been sitting in the opposite street of where it all began. Just… remembering how it felt to be seventeen and carefree, and then, how it all went to shit. After all this time, he learnt not to feel bad or sad about it anymore, but sometimes the fact that he was completely and uttely alone in the world now hit him right in the face. Well, that was until some time ago, when Liam appeared in his life. He let out a long sigh thinking about the brown haired boy. He wondered if he was looking for him, if he even cared that he was gone. And if he was, he wished Liam would find him, and if he did, he was not going to leave again, he promised himself, at least Liam wanted him to leave, but he was going to do anything he could, anything he had in hand so that would not happen. Liam was much too important to him and now that he was starting to think about it, then maybe it was a bad idea to leave. He missed Liam and the feeling of having him around, the feeling he gave him of being safe. But yeah, it was all done now.

He looked up to the sky, it was surely midnight by now, not a star could be seen in the sky, the clouds where threatening to start pouring water at any moment. He hoped it wasn’t going to rain any soon because he didn’t want to be out there in the rain without Liam to save him. And there it was again, Liam. Everything was Liam lately, he just couldn’t help it.

*

Liam had looked _everywhere_ around and was now starting to freak out. He wasn’t going home until he find Niall, no. But he needed to clear his head a little bit so he could think properly.

 _‘Okay, so I looked in the streets, shelters and I already phoned hospitals,’_ Liam thought, _‘where else could he have gone?’_ he asked himself while sitting in the doorstep of some house. It was starting to rain and that could ruin everything more and dropped his mood. He wanted to go to the police for help but what was he going to say? ‘yeah, hi, the homeless boy who lives on the other side of the street disappeared but it’s kind of important because I might be in love with him’? No. And they’ll laugh right in front of him. It made him mad because everyone should be important, doesn’t matter where you live. He just stopped thinking about that because it wasn’t important at the moment and he needed to concentrate on how to find the blond boy.

He texted Louis and Zayn just to know if they had some news, but he knew before hand that if they hadn’t text him first it was because there weren’t. _‘Come on, Liam, think’_ he thought to himself, and around five minutes, something occurred to him. He knew it was a long shot but he might as well try, he had nothing to lose by now.

He waited for a taxi to appear down the street and stopped it. “I need to go to where the suburbs of London starts,” he said, “I don’t have an exact address, I’m looking for someone” he finished. The driver looked at him through the rear mirror with a quizzical expression but nodded nonetheless.

The rain was stronger now and it didn’t seem like it was going to stop any time soon. They went all over the streets, pretty slow so Liam could take a look everywhere around but hadn’t seen any trace of Niall.

After around half an hour, but what seemed like forever to Liam, he was about to give up and go home, he was sad, and wet and cold, but just as he was about to tell the driver to turn around and head the city again, he thought he saw someone sitting in a doorstep under a small roof. He couldn’t make out the figure very well, but it was just sitting there, looking straight ahead at some house at the other side of the street. He wasn’t sure if it really was Niall but he hoped it was.

“Stop stop stop!” Liam told the driver who did immediately. He took his wallet out of his back pocket and handed the driver the money, not before apologizing, “sorry for all the trouble, but thank you for your patience.”

“No problem kid, be careful out there in the rain.”

Liam smiled at the driver, _‘good man’_ he thought, and started walking towards the direction he saw the person sitting. He still couldn’t make out the figure very well because the street wasn’t very well lighted. He kept on walking towards the figure and _‘YES!’_ Liam thought, it was Niall. He didn’t run to him or anything like in any movie, he just kept walking until he was standing right in front of him and stuck his hand out for him to take.

Niall, who was completely trapped in his own thoughts, didn’t even notice someone had approached him until he saw a pair of converse in front of him and a hand. He lifted his gaze to see who the person was and found it was that face he was dying to see again and who hoped was going to find him.

He took Liam’s hand and stood up, “you looked for me,” he said with an adoring and thankful expression in his face, his doubts were now gone, “you found me” he said almost a whisper, his voice getting lost in between the tapping of the rain, but looked at Liam’s eyes.

The older boy heard him though and smiled at him, “I’m sorry it took me so long, I’m so sorry, but always, I will always, Niall.”

Niall didn’t say anything, just stepped forward and crashed his lips against Liam’s. Liam didn’t move though, he was too much surprised to do so, and Niall pulled away and looked down, Liam could still see some blushing creeping up his cheeks in the dim light.

“I’m sorry, Liam, that was stupid, I didn’t mean to-“ Liam cut him off by putting one of his fingers against his lips.

“Shh. Don’t be silly, I’ll kiss you proper when we get back home, how does that sound?” Liam asked him with a smile.

Niall smiled back, “Perfect.”

So they walked a couple of blocks under the rain until they found a taxi whose driver took pity on their poor state (which was, completely soaked wet) and allowed them to get on the car. Liam told the driver his address and then took out his phone and wrote a single message _‘found him, you can go home now, I’ll tell you in the morning, thank you so much for your help guys, really. x’_ and then send it to Louis and Zayn. Not a minute after he received their replies, _‘okay mate, I’m glad, talk to you tomorrow’_ from Zayn and then Louis _‘you better talk to that boy or I swear to god, Liam. But I’m glad you found him, see you tomorrow bro’_ , Liam rolled his eyes at his friend’s text but a little smile appeared on his face nevertheless.

The car ride was silent and not very long, and when they got to their destination, Liam paid the driver and said he was sorry for leaving his seats all wet but the driver said it was not a problem and that they should go get dry.

He opened the door and took Niall’s hand to help him out of the car and then shut the door closed, not letting the blond’s go, and that touch, even if it was little, made Niall’s insides feel like there were fireworks exploding inside him. He opened the door to the building and they went upstairs the whole way in silence.

Liam opened the door to his flat and once they were inside and shut the door, he let go of Niall’s hand.

“You can go have a shower okay, I don’t want you to get sick” Liam told him.

Niall rolled his eyes at Liam, always being so attentive, “alright” he said simply.

“I’ll make something warm to drink meanwhile and then I’ll have a shower.”

Niall went to “his” room to get some clothes, well, Liam’s clothes but he didn’t use it anymore (or that’s what he said) so he gave them to him. He went to the bathroom quickly and heard Liam moving around in the kitchen probably looking for something to drink.

He got under the shower and let the warm water relax all his muscles. It felt nice. All that was happening felt nice. Having a place to stay, having someone there for you who actually cares, feeling special, being loved and to love back. He got out of the shower and dried himself, put some clothes on and walked to the kitchen just when Liam was placing a mug with hot chocolate in the table.

“Okay, I’ll go have a quick shower, alright?”

Niall nodded in response and sat in a chair by the kitchen table.

“Just, don’t leave me while I’m in there, please.” Liam said trying to sound like he was joking but Niall could see he was being honest, like he was really scared of him leaving again.

“I won’t, I swear.” Niall smiled a small smile at him.

Liam left the room and a minute later he could hear the sound of the shower in the bathroom. He felt bad for Liam, for making him feel that way, like he couldn’t trust him enough and to make him feel like he needed to tell Niall he didn’t want to go, because he wasn’t going anywhere anymore, at least for now. He didn’t want Liam to feel like that, he wanted him to be happy and to be smiling and talking non stop as he usually does.

Niall was brought back from his thought but Liam entering the room in some fresh clothes and his hair dripping wet, asking him, “am I that terrible at everything I do in the kitchen? You haven’t even touched your chocolate!” Liam said with a pout.

Niall lifted his head to look at him and felt the need to kiss that pout away but he pushed that thought aside and instead said, “No, no! I’m sorry, I was just… thinking, I guess.”

“It’s okay, Ni, I was joking,” he said, “but I do know I suck at cooking.”

Niall laughed and Liam sat in front of him and took his mug taking a short seep.

Niall cleared his throat, “so, uhm…” he started.

“You don’t, like, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Liam offered him.

“But I do, you deserve to know.”

“Okay, if you think so. I’m listening then.” Liam said with an encouraging smile.

And just as Niall opened his mouth to speak, a loud thunder could be heard outside, Niall jolted in his seat, “fuck” he muttered.

Liam raised an eyebrow at him, “are you afraid of storms?”

“No,” Niall said, “not storms, thunders.”

“Oh. It’ll be okay, there’s nothing they can do to you” Liam said and put his hand over Niall’s one on the table and rubbing the side of his hand gently with his thumb.

“I know.” He sighed. “Okay, so what I was about to say, the reason I left was… well, I wrote it down in the note, right? I mean, when I’m here during the day just by myself, I have a lot of time to think, you know? And I guess sometimes I let my mind wander over a lot of things,” he said with a shrug, “and today I just felt down, like I was being a bother to anyone, like just existing was bothering people-“

“I hope you realize that is not true.” Liam cut him.

“I do now, thanks to you,” Niall smiled at him shyly, then continued speaking, “I just thought you were going to get tired of me eventually and you’d want me out of your life, if you didn’t already, I thought that maybe you did but you didn’t know how to express it cause you’re always so nice to everyone, so I just left, I thought I was making you a favor.” He shrugged.

“That’s-“ Liam started but Niall cut him off by talking again.

“There’s another reason, too, but I think I wasn’t ready to tell you yet, but I think I might be now. I think… I think I like you, Liam.” Niall said slowly, letting the words fall out of his mouth and letting them sink in, like if now that it was said aloud was more real.

Liam frowned in confusion, “well, yeah, me too, but I thought we made that clear some time ago?”

“No- Liam, you don’t understand, I think I like you, as in, I might be falling in love with you.”

“Oh.” Liam said.

“I’m sorry if it’s weird or if it makes you uncomfortable or something-“

“It doesn’t,” Liam told him with a thoughtful expression, “I actually feel the same way” he said with a shrug, as if it was the most common thing in the world.

“You do?” Niall asked, some sort of hope lightening up his eyes.

“Yeah… I’ve been feeling like that for a while now, but I thought you wouldn’t feel the same, so…”

“I thought you’ll never like me back, like, there’s _nothing_ special about me.”

“You’re kidding, right? There are so many things about you that are so beautiful I don’t even know where to start.”

Niall blushed at Liam’s words and took he hand Liam was still holding away , “shut up, you’re too nice to me.”

“Because you deserve it.” Liam said simply and smiled at him.

Liam stood up and took the two mugs that were emptied somehow in between words during their conversation, and put them on the kitchen counter, he’ll wash them in the morning.

He walked towards Niall and offered his hand, which the blond accepted happily, “let’s go to bed now, alright? I have to work in the morning but I’ll be back by lunch and then we’ll spend the afternoon together and we’ll plan something to do on the weekend.”

Niall nodded and they walked out of the kitchen to the door of Niall’s room.

“Night, Ni” Liam said squeezing his hand before letting it go and turned around to go to his room but the blond caught his hand before he could go further.

“Uhm, Liam?” he asked, a faint blush already appearing in his cheeks.

“Yeah?” Liam turned to him again and asked.

“You, uhm, you promised me something earlier, when we, uhm, when you found me.”

“Did I?“ Liam said, he knew what Niall was talking about, actually he had been thinking about that since he had said it, he just didn’t know when was the right time, so he decided to play dumb, “what was it? I can’t really remember.” He said with a playful expression and moved closer to Niall.

The blond rolled his eyes but smiled, “you’re dumb.”

“Am I?” Liam asked moving even closer, his lips inches away from Niall, he could feel his breath against his own lips.

Niall let his eyes fell to Liam’s lips, “just kiss me already” he murmured, to which Liam smiled and closed the gap between their lips, their eyes closing instantly, both of them smiling a little into the kiss. It wasn’t a long, passionate kiss, just lips moving slowly against lips, but it made both their stomachs and chests explode with a million feelings, like there were butterflies inside them. Niall’s hands were on Liam’s shoulders and Liam’s hands loose around Niall’s waist.

They pulled away short after and Niall hid his face in the crook of Liam’s neck, “alright now?” Liam asked softly.

Niall nodded and placed a kiss where Liam’s neck and shoulder joined together. He lifted his face again, “g’night, Li” he said and placed a small kiss on the older boy’s lips again.

“Good night, Niall” he said and then walked to his room as Niall entered his.

When Liam was already lying in bed, he couldn’t help but smile at how nice it felt to kiss Niall, how relieved he felt when he had found him, and how nice it would feel to sleep with his arms wrapped around the blond. But it was still too early for that, they have enough time, they’ll get to it. But what he didn’t know, was that in the next room, Niall was lying in bed thinking about the same, hoping time will pass quickly enough so he could go sleep in between Liam’s strong arms, where he felt safe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was chapter four, and Niall is back, yaaayy! Well hopefully that wasn't too bad, sorry it's kind of short though.  
> Feedback is always welcomed so feel free to tell me what you think!  
> Next chapter'll be up sometime during the week! (: x


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "love me"

The next morning, Liam woke up early to go to work, _‘finally Friday’_ he thought, and he’ll get to spend the afternoon and the whole weekend with Niall, he was anxious about it.

He went to the bathroom and took a shower, then went out and got changed for work. He wasn’t even out of his house yet but he wanted to be coming back already, he hoped this morning would pass quickly enough. He entered the bathroom again, brushed his teeth and styled his hair a little. Then prepared himself some coffee and toasts for breakfast and when he was done, he decided to check on Niall.

He went to the spare bedroom and opened the door trying not to do any sound and felt his heart flutter when he saw the blond boy lying there, one leg almost hanging off the bed, the blankets and sheets all tangled messily around his body, his hair sticking out in every direction and snoring soundlessly. _‘How does he manage to be so gorgeous even like this? I sure as hell look terrible when I sleep’_ Liam thought while he approached the bed. He just stood there, looking down at the boy for what if felt like hours, until he remembered he had to go to work. Fuck. He lowered himself and placed a kiss on Niall’s forehead and saw how the other boy squirmed in bed but smiled a little. Was he up? Or did Liam have that kind of influence over the boy?

Liam left his flat with a smile on his face and if he still had it on his face when he reached the office, no one said anything to him. His morning was exceptionally busy, his boss appeared out of the blue (he was supposed to be on a business trip) with the tallest stack of paperwork he had ever seen to do and he had to write like a million reports and had to rearrange a lot of meetings now that his boss was back and when it was time to leave he was exhausted but he thought he couldn’t be happier to leave that place even though at least half of the paperwork was still waiting for him on his desk to be done on Monday. But he’ll just forget about that and focus on what was he going to buy for lunch and tried to find and activity for the afternoon, which he had planned to do during the morning as he worked when he woke up but barely had time to breathe.

When he stepped outside the building, he remembered a couple of things he had been thinking last night before falling asleep. First, he was going to give Niall a key to his flat, because well, he lived there now and he didn’t want to keep the boy locked up there all day, so that way he could get out whenever he wanted to. He trusted him enough now to know he wasn’t going to leave again. So he walked a couple of blocks towards this locksmith’s shop he knew and had the man who worked there copy his key. This took no more than five or ten minutes so he was quickly out of there.

Second thing he remembered, he was going to buy Niall a phone, not like, the fanciest one because he planned on buying him other things yet, but one that was cool enough would do for now. So he went to this electronics shop and asked the guy working there to get him a phone that wasn’t the most expensive and newest, but one that had all the apps and stuff. He inspected the phone once the guy had chose one for him and after deciding it was okay, he bought it (a couple of fees so he wouldn’t spend his whole salary so quick.) He got the guy to already get it activated so Niall could start using it as soon as he get it because he knew how anxious the blond boy was about everything.

And after that, he headed home not before buying their lunch, pasta today because he felt like it. And he wanted to have ravioli because he hadn’t ate those in what felt like forever and he just wanted to eat that.

By the time he opened his flat’s door, he found Niall flicking the channels of the TV.

“Hey, Ni” he said as he closed the door.

The blond turned around and smiled at him, “hello, Liam” he greeted him as he stood up from the sofa and walk towards him to peck him on the lips. Liam blushed a little and smiled when Niall kissed him, he wouldn’t mind being welcomed like that every day.

“So, uhm,” Liam cleared his throat, “I have a few things for you.” Liam stated.

Niall raised an eyebrow, “like what?”

“Let’s eat first and I’ll give them to you after, okay? I bought pasta and cold pasta is the worst and I’m just really hungry.”

Niall chuckled, “alright” he said and took the bag of food Liam handed him and walked into the kitchen to set them in the table, the brown haired boy right behind him. Liam went to the drawers to look for some cutlery while Niall looked for some glasses and water in the fridge. They sat and took their food out of the bag and settled them in their plates. Liam took his first bite and closed his eyes, “I love these things so much.”

Niall laughed and almost choke on his food, “you sound like you haven’t ate in years.”

“It feels like it, work was terrible today.”

“Really?”

And then Liam proceeded to tell Niall about how his boss was back from his trip earlier than expected and with tons of paperwork to do and everything he had done in the morning.

When they finished eating, Niall took both of their plates and put them in the sink. “So can I know what you got me now?” he asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Oh, I almost forgot about that” Liam chuckled, “let’s go to the living room, they are in my bag.”

They went to the living room and sat in the sofa, Liam took his bag in his hands and opened it, then started looking for something inside. “Oh, here it is,” he said as he took out a small key, “this,” he started, “is the key to this flat, just thought you should have it, you live here now and I don’t want you to feel like I’m locking you up here” he finished with a shrug.

Niall took the key in his hand and look at it for a minute, then smiled. His smile was so big his face could split into two. “Thanks a lot, Liam, this- it means a lot, you know? That you trust me with this” he said and moved closer so he could give Liam a proper kiss.

Once they pulled apart, Liam smiled sweetly at him, “just don’t run away from me when I do something stupid, alright?”

Niall laughed, “Never, I promise.”

“Good. Now… here’s your other surprise.” Liam said and took a box wrapped in blue.

Niall raised an eyebrow at him as he took the box. He looked at it for a moment as if trying to guess what was inside but gave up eventually and torn the paper open. When he saw what was inside of the box his eyes went wide, “a phone? YOU GOT ME A FUCKING PHONE, LIAM?!” he screamed.

Liam laughed loudly, “yes, I got you a phone, Niall.”

“I- but- this- oh my God,” he said placing the box on the coffee table by the sofa and throwing himself at Liam. He kissed his entire face, his forehead, his cheeks, his eyes, his nose, his jawline and then, he kissed him on the lips. He was kissing him hard and Liam couldn’t help but let out some kind of moan, and Niall took advantage of that and stuck his tongue inside Liam’s mouth. It was the first time they deepened a kiss like that, but then again, they had kiss like… three times only? It felt good for Liam, Niall was a good kisser and he liked him a lot so yeah, why not?

They spent a couple of minutes just kissing but didn’t let it go any further, it was all too new and they still had all the time in the world. When the pulled away and Niall moved from being on top of Liam and sat again, allowing the older boy to do the same, he took the box from the coffee table again and opened it.

“It’s already activated so you can use it already. Oh, and I already put my number in there.”

“Good. I can text you while you’re at work so you don’t miss me too much” Niall teased him.

“I think you’re the one that miss me when I’m at work” Liam teased back.

“Hmm,” Niall thought, “maybe a little.”

Liam smiled at him. “Okay, so I have plans for today that involves more things for you.”

“No, Liam- please, you don’t have to, I don’t want you to spend your money on me.”

“Shush you, it’s my money and I can spend it the way I want to and if I want to spend it on you then I’m allowed to do it.”

“But-“

“No, no buts, go get changed, we’re going shopping.”

Niall shook his head and rolled his eyes but obeyed nonetheless.

*

 Niall forgot how much fun he had every time he went shopping and it’s been so long since the last time he had. Liam took him to the mall not far away from their flat (yes, THEIR flat, and Niall was so happy he could say it was his too), and the blond couldn’t stop from saying “oh God, I need this!” or “I want this, I love it!” every two seconds.

In times like these, Liam could notice how happy Niall was lately, how much he has changed, and he’d like to think he was one of those reasons. He would buy him everything he wanted but Liam was smarter than that, he knew they still have to eat and live for the rest of the month. And Niall knew that too, but he swore he just couldn’t stop wanting everything, new clothes and “Liam look at that hoodie, it’s so cool!” and shoes and snapbacks and _‘Jesus, snapbacks look so good on him’_ Liam thought, maybe he’ll buy him one.

“Niall, I think we should just go inside one shop so you can try some clothes instead of just going around.”

“I just wanted to see everything so I can choose, let’s go to that one” Niall said pointing at a shop a few meters away.

They went inside the shop and looked for some jeans and shirts but Niall decided the shirts were too expensive there and he didn’t want Liam to spend that much money on just a shirt. So he went to the changing room with a pair of fitted jeans and some black ones while Liam waited for him outside.

Niall was out a minute later with the jeans on, “I like these one, how do I look?” he said turning to Liam.

“Well they look a lot better on you than my jeans” he laughed.

Niall rolled his eyes and laughed and then went inside to try the black pants.

“I like this one a lot, and they are pretty comfortable” he said and got out of the changing room for Liam to see him.

“Yeah, I like those ones too.”

“Okay. So which one should we buy?”

“Let’s buy both” Liam said with a shrug.

“But-“

“Not again, we’re buying both and that’s the end of this conversation.”

Niall pouted at him and went inside the changing room again to get changed and once he was out they went to pay for both items. They exited the shop and went to another one which was one floor above where Niall had seen shirts he liked. He just wanted simple ones, so once there he chose a plain white one and a grey one. That’ll do for now. Liam of course had asked the blond if he was sure and if he didn’t want another one because he’ll pay for it and that it didn’t matter and of course Niall had said no.

“Okay, what else do you need now?” Liam was thinking aloud, “sneakers.”

“Ooooooh, I saw those Nikes in some shop somewhere.” Niall said and turned his head to look for the shop.

They found it eventually and Niall tried on those Nikes he liked and Liam bought them for him because he couldn’t say no to him when he saw how happy he was.

After that they went for a coffee at this Starbucks that was inside the mall and sat in a sofa, luckily it wasn’t too crowded as it usually was.

“Thanks a lot, Liam,” Niall started saying and moved closer to his right so he could lean his head on Liam’s shoulder, “everything you’re doing means so much to me, I’ll pay you someday, I promise.”

“You don’t have to and you’re welcome” he said and put his arm around Niall shoulder and lifted his hand to ruffle his hair.

“Are you rich though?” Niall asked laughing and Liam laughed with him.

“No but I already told you, I don’t pay for anything and to be honest, my parents have quite a lot of money and they send me some every month, so…” he shrugged.

“I bet your parents are the best” Niall said and sighed, he missed his parents.

“They are okay, I guess” Liam answered and then changed the subject, “so, is there anything else you want to buy? We should buy hoodies or a coat or something, winter’s coming.”

Niall shook his head, “I want to wear your hoodies, I mean, if you don’t mind. They’re comfy and they smell like you” he said and buried his face on Liam’s neck and took a breath, inhaling his scent.

“Like me? How do I smell?”

Niall shrugged, “you smell like home to me.”

Liam felt his heart melt at the boy’s words, he actually was that important, wow, that was an overwhelming feeling. He turned his face to the side and placed a kiss on Niall’s forehead.

“Oh, but there’s one thing I want to buy you” Liam remembered suddenly.

The blond boy raised an eyebrow, “what?”

“A snapback” he smiled and Niall smiled back.

*

So once they finished shopping, bags with Niall’s new clothes in hand, it was already time for dinner and the sky was dark grey, when was it not in London?

“I think we should go have dinner somewhere” Liam said.

“If you want,” Niall shrugged. “Is there a Nando’s here?”

“I think there is one some blocks away from here.”  

“Can we go? Please please please?”

Liam chuckled, “of course we can.”

They walked four or five blocks until they found Nando’s and Niall was almost bouncing on the walls.

“This is my favorite place to eat ever” the blond said.

“Yeah, I can see” Liam laughed. “You want to eat here or should we buy food and take it home?”

“Hmm,” Niall thought for a bit, “I think we should grab the food and go home, it’s going to start raining at any minute” Niall said, signaling to Liam to look outside with his head.

Liam looked at the sky and sighed, “I’ve seen more rain in my past few months here than in my entire life” and laughed, “okay, let’s order something then.”

They stood at the end of the queue, which was pretty long, by the way, while deciding what they want to buy for dinner. They couldn’t agree on one meal for the both of them so they ended up buying different things each.

When they had paid for everything and exited the place with bags of food on their hands, it was already raining outside.

“I really fucking hate the rain” Liam said and Niall laughed.

“Stop complaining, come on, let’s take a taxi.”

The car ride to their flat was kind of long, they weren’t even far from there but for some reason they didn’t knew, the traffic was an absolute chaos, must have been the rain, they thought, it was starting to get stronger and persistent.

By the time they got upstairs and Liam closed the door, the lightning and the thunders were starting and Niall was starting to be a little hysterical.

They had dinner in the kitchen as always and once they finished, they moved to the living room and put some film on the TV while cuddling on the sofa, or more like, Liam was holding Niall who couldn’t stop jumping at every thunder. So Liam kept his arms around him or ran his hand through his hair and murmured words of relief to him so Niall would be calm. He couldn’t stop thinking about everything though, about how quickly this was all happening, about how in just a couple of days, after they talked about their feelings, everything has turned around, because let’s be honest, they were acting like a couple, but, were they one? And apparently Niall was thinking exactly the same because he was the first one to speak.

“Liam?”

“Yeah, Ni?”

“What is this? I mean… what- what are we?”

Liam didn’t say anything for a moment, “I… I don’t know, and I was actually thinking the same, about how everything changed in just a couple of days, you know?”

“Yeah,” Niall said moving to a more sitting position, “I just- I want you to know that I really care about you, Liam, and that I can’t thank you enough because there are no words to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, and when I say everything, I mean, everything from when I was still on the streets until you brought me here and now, and I wish there was something I could do to-“

“Shh,” Liam shushed him putting one of his fingers against his lips, “I know, Ni, I already know that. You don’t have to do anything, just…” he wasn’t sure about what he was about to say, he wasn’t sure about how Niall was going to react or what he was going to say, “love me” and it came out softly, almost as a whisper.

Niall looked into his eyes with such a strong expression, and Liam could see a million feelings on those blue eyes, appreciation, gratitude, adoration and love, he could see love written all over his face, on the way he was looking at him like he was the most important and precious thing he had and Liam just wanted to love him just as much Niall wanted to love him back and he felt his heart flutter at this realization, that Niall was already his to keep, to take care of.

“I already do that, Liam” Niall said in a whisper, and sitting in front of Liam so he could lean in and press his lips against the older boy’s ones. They didn’t rush it though but it was so charged with feelings, as if they wanted to express all their emotions in that moment but couldn’t find the words to do it so they’ll do it kissing.

Niall would put his arms around Liam’s neck and grab the hair in his scalp, tugging a little at them and Liam would let out a small gasp inside the kiss while his hands were around Niall’s waist and then letting them go under his shirt, making the blond boy shiver at the sudden cold touching his skin.

They pulled apart some time later though and Niall was the first to speak again, “so… what does this mean then?”

“Whatever you want it to mean, Ni, I’ll be whatever you want me or need me to be as long as you’re happy and I get to stay with you.”

Niall smiled sweetly at Liam’s words, he still couldn’t believe all of this, he was so lucky to have him and he was so sure about his love for Liam, now more than ever.

“Be my boyfriend then?” Niall said timidly, his cheeks turning red rapidly and looking down.

Liam took one of Niall’s hands in his and use his other one to lift the blond’s face by the chin, “of course I will, Ni” he smiled at him and placed a kiss on his lips.

And after that conversation they went back to cuddling but not paying attention to the TV, instead they let all that had just happened sink in. It never stopped raining outside, which they have forgot while talking but as soon as they went back to just lay there Niall went back to being all scared. Liam thought it was cute, actually, and it gave him an excuse to hold the blond close.

After half an hour Niall was asleep beside Liam, so he decided to carry him to his bed. As soon as he laid the blond on the mattress, he took out his clothes, leaving him only in his boxers (he might or might not stared at the blond’s pale skin for a while) and then pulled the blankets over him and placed a kiss on his forehead before leaving the room and going back to his.

That night he fell asleep with the biggest smile on his face.

*

Niall opened his eyes suddenly at the loud noise caused by a thunder. He threw the blankets over his head and covered his ears. _‘Wait… how did I get here?’_ Niall thought, then realized he must have fallen asleep on the couch and Liam must have moved him to the bed. He’ll thank hi- another loud thunder could be heard. He had no idea how he survived this when he lived on the streets, but he rather not think about that.

He laid there under the covers, listening to the rain, it seemed like there weren’t any more thunders and he was falling asleep again when suddenly he could hear a new one, but this one was louder than the others, making the windows tremble. He didn’t even think about it, he stood up from the bed, opened the door and went straight to Liam’s room.

When he closed the door to the other’s boy room, he approached the bed quickly while another thunder stroke and he was going to start crying if this fucking storm didn’t stop.

He stood by Liam’s sleeping figure and felt guilty for waking him up but he didn’t want to just get into his bed, so he shook Liam’s shoulder softly and whispered, “Li?” his voice sounded hoarse so he tried again, “Liam?”

The brown hair boy squirmed and turned around but didn’t wake up. Jesus, he was a heavy sleeper.

Another thunder and Niall let out a stifled sob and then Liam woke up. He opened his eyes slowly and turned around to see Niall standing right beside his bed.

“Ni?” he said and sat on the bed and turned the light on the bedside table, shutting his eyes for a second and then blinking to adjust to the light, “you alright?”

Niall suffocated a sob and shook his head, “do you mind if I sleep here tonight?” he whispered.

“Of course I don’t, come on, get in here” Liam said patting the other side of the bed.

The blond went around the bed and got under the blankets. Liam turned off the lights and immediately went to put his arms around his now boyfriend.

Niall snuggled closer to him and let Liam’s hand travel his back while leaving soft kisses in his hair and forehead.

“It’s alright, okay, Ni, you’re safe” Liam said in a voice deep with sleep. Niall nodded against Liam’s neck.

They fell asleep eventually, tangled around each other.

*

The next morning Liam was woke up by his phone ringing in his bedside table but he was too asleep to care so it stopped eventually. Not a minute had passed and it started ringing again. He groaned and turned around, letting go of Niall who was snuggled against his chest, and took his phone and answered without looking at the called I.D.

“Hello?” he mumbled sleepily into the speaker.

“I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN A MONTH AND YOU GOT YOURSELF A BOYFRIEND?! AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN TELL ME, LIAM!” he heard Harry yelling on the other side of the line, he had to get his phone away from his ear or he’ll go deaf.

“What?” he said again, not processing all the information. He felt the blond turning to him and opened his eyes.

“Who is it, Li?” he asked, voice low and sleepy and his accent thicker, moving closer to Liam and hugging him from behind.

“I was talking to Lou earlier and he told me you got a boyfriend, Liam! Why did I not know about that?” Harry said.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, actually, we made it official yesterday, so…” he said a little more awake.

“But you haven’t even told me you were seeing someone” Liam could almost see Harry pouting.

“Well it was all kind of… fast. It’s complicated, I’ll explain later- Niall, stop” he told the blond because he was kissing down the back of his neck and it was sending shivers down his spine.

“Are you with him, now? Wait, are you in bed? OH MY GOD, LIAM, I’M SORRY.”

“NO!” Liam exclaimed, “No, Harry, it’s not what you’re thinking, really- Niall, I said stop, fuck” Liam told him again and he could hear him fucking giggling. “It’s not funny, Niall, I’m trying to have a conversation here” he said and turned around so he was now facing the blond.

“Sorry” Niall said with a pout.

“Okay, I’m leaving you guys alone,” Harry said to Liam on the phone, “but I want to meet him some time, alright? At least on skype.”

“Alright,” Liam said, “talk to you later, Harry, bye.”

“Bye, Liam.” Harry answered and then the line was dead.

Liam put his phone on the bedside table again and then moved to straddle Niall, “that was not very kind of you” he told him, narrowing his eyes but smiling down at him.

“Yeah? And what are you going to do about it?” Niall said crossing his arms in front of his chest but looking up at Liam, taking on the image of his boyfriend who was wearing nothing else but boxers. He looked at his arms and how strong his muscles looked, at his chest with just a little amount of hair, and at his abs that were well defined even though he didn’t go to the gym or anything- and suddenly his train of thought was cut by Liam.

“I’m going to tickle you until you apologize” the older boy said with a smirk on his face and started tickling Niall.

“No! Nononono, Liam, stop!” he said laughing.

“Nope!” Liam said tickling him harder.

Niall couldn’t stop laughing and he was squirming under Liam’s body, tears starting to roll down his face from all the laughter. “Liam, pleeeeeease!” he said trying to hold his boyfriends arms and- wait, is that a scar? “Liam, Liam, wait” he said more serious now.

Liam stopped when he saw the look on the blond’s face, “what is it? Did I hurt you? I’m sorry.” He said taking his hands of Niall.

“No, no- it’s just, what is this?” he said tracing a finger through Liam’s side where the scar was placed.

Liam took Niall’s hands away from him and got off him, to sit on the bed, wrapping his arms around his body and looking down. He was always very self conscious about those scars, he didn’t want Niall to see them but he completely forgot about it, he forgot about everything when he was with him.

“Liam, you can tell me about it, they are just scars now, yeah? Everything’s fine” he told his boyfriend, now sitting in the bed in front of Liam.

Liam didn’t say anything, just stood there, hugging himself until he let out a deep long sigh a minute later and unwrapped his arms from around his own torso. Niall could see there was another scar on the other side of his ribs, just a little lower.  

“I was bullied in school” Liam blurted out.

Niall raised an eyebrow at his words, who would be able to hurt such an amazing boy? He was about to speak but then Liam continued.

“It started when I told who was my best friend back in high school that I was bi and that I was seeing a boy and somehow everyone found out and first it was all like verbal, like bad names, ‘faggot’ and all that stuff, it was okay, I could live with that, but then it all started to get violent and I got beat up and kicked and yeah… and after some time I was tired of it so I started to learn how to box to fight them and after some time it stopped, but I got some ugly scars” he finished with a shrug. “I guess you’d find out about them eventually.”

Niall stared at him after he finished talking and he was so, _so_ angry at whoever was who beat him up. But then his expression softened when he saw how sad Liam looked while remembering those times, so he moved closer and placed a kiss on his lips. It was sweet, he wanted to show Liam that he loved him and that no one could hurt him now, that he could feel safe around him just as much Niall felt when he was around Liam. He kept kissing him and he moved even closer, and put his hand on Liam’s chest, pushing him until Liam was lying back on the bed, Niall’s legs at each side of the brown haired boy’s body and still kissing. He then moved from his lips to kiss his jawline and then his neck, going a little lower every time until he got to his scars and started placing light kisses over them. Liam’s hands going to Niall’s back, moving them up and down but touching him softly.

Niall kept on kissing his scar and then moved to the one on the other side. “Are there any more?” he asked softly.

“Well, uhm, yeah, but it’s lower” Liam blushed.

Niall rolled his eyes and smiled at him, moving lower, just to pull at the elastic of Liam’s boxers a bit to found another scar placed just above his v line. Niall started kissing there but felt Liam tugging at his hair.

“Niall.” He said with a warning voice, the last thing he needed right now was to get a hard on.

“Sorry” Niall chuckled and moved up again to kiss him again.

After some more time of kissing, Niall’s stomach made a loud noise and he pulled apart, “sorry” he said with an embarrassed blush on his face.

“Let’s go have breakfast” Liam said laughing and moved Niall from above him. He tried to turn the light on his bedside table on and it didn’t, he frowned. He got up and tried to turn the light of the bedroom on and it didn’t either. “Great, there’s no electricity,” he said and looked outside to notice there was still raining outside, Jesus, when was it going to stop raining in that city? “I’ll call Lou to know if he he’s has electricity then we can go there, alright?” Liam said.

“Uhm, yeah…” Niall said slowly.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked him.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just… your friends know me but I don’t really know them and, yeah… that.”

Liam smiled at him, “they are really cool, they’ll love you, I promise.”

“Okay” Niall said with a small smile.

Liam took his phone and dialed Louis number, who picked the phone at the third beep, “hello?” Louis answered.

“I can’t believe you answered your phone on the first time I called.”

“Ha ha, very funny, Payne. What’s up?”

“Listen, do you have electricity there? Cause I don’t and I need to charge my phone and it’s boring when there’s no light and yeah.”

“Alright, you can come over. I think Zayn’s coming over too, he’s in your situation too.”

“Alright, we’ll have breakfast and we’ll be over then.”

“Okay, see you later, mate.” Louis said and then hung up.

Liam turned to Niall to inform him about their plans for the day, “alright, we’re going to Louis’ so let’s go have some breakfast and they we’ll head there.”

Niall nodded and they went to the kitchen and had something to eat, then they had a shower, not together, first Niall, then Liam, they weren’t sure they were ready for that kind of intimacy yet. And once they were both changed and with everything they needed, they went out and took a taxi to Louis’ flat.

Luckily, Louis’ wasn’t far away but they weren’t walking under the rain, no way. When they got there and rang the bell, Zayn opened the door.

“Hey Zayn, what’s up?” Liam said entering his friend’s flat.

“Hey Liam” he said back and then look at Niall and smiled at him, “hi, Niall.”

“Hi” Niall said and smiled shyly and gave a short nod.

“So where’s Louis?” Liam asked.

“Skyping with his boyfriend” Zayn said rolling his eyes and Liam laughed.

Louis was sitting on the couch, laptop in his lap and Harry’s face was on the screen, who apparently saw Liam behind Louis cause he suddenly yelled, “Liam Payne you get your ass over here right now!”

“Shit” Liam said laughing and approaching Louis, sitting beside him. Niall who was holding his hand, sat on the armrest.

“Hi guys” Liam said, greeting Louis and Harry.

“You have so many things to tell me! Like, what about-“

“Harry,” Louis cut him off, “he’s right here” he told him knowing what he was talking about.

“Oh,” Harry said, “sorry. So you’re attached by the hip, now?” he asked Liam, laughing.

Liam made an uncomfortable face and look at Niall who was blushing, neither of them knew how to explain the whole story, and there was Louis to rescue them again.

“Uhm, they live together, Harry.”

“They live together?!” Harry almost yelled, “wait, but how-“

“We’ll explain you later, okay? It’s kind of a complicated story.” Liam spoke.

“Alright,” Harry nodded, “can I meet him then?” he said with a smile.

Liam sighed, “why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?” he said.

“Well, because after Danielle-“ Harry started.

“Alright, alright!” Liam cut him off and turned to look at Niall, questioning him with his eyes. Niall gave him a nod.

“Make some space for Niall, Lou” Liam said and Louis got up from the couch and passed his laptop to Liam, who moved to where Louis was sitting so Liam could sit in his place.

Harry saw the laptop moving and then Liam’s face and a blond appear on the screen.

“Hello!” Harry said cheerfully and waving.

Niall smiled, “hi.”

“Aw, but look at him, Liam, I hope you’re not ruining him already.”

Liam faked a hurt expression and putting a hand over his chest, “you’re supposed to be my friend!” he said and Niall laughed.

Harry laughed too and then his eyes went to Niall again, “so, from what I heard this morning,” he made a coughing sound, and Louis and Zayn looked at Liam and Niall with playful expressions, “your name’s Niall” he finished.

“It is, nice to meet you?” he said more like a question.

“Oh, you’re irish!” Harry exclaimed and Niall laughed.

“I am” he said with a smile.

And then the conversation kept going but Liam and Niall didn’t tell Harry the whole story about them, they’ll tell him later, when he moves to London.

Then the day was spent with movies, chats, laughs, Xbox games and lots of food, and to Niall’s surprise, he clicked very good and quickly with the other boys, it was so easy to talk to them and they were very nice to him but they didn’t treat him any different than they would treat anyone. For once, Niall felt like he belong somewhere and he couldn’t be any happier. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that was chapter five, woooo! More details about their life are starting to appear here and there.  
> Anyways, hope you liked it! (: x


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was horny, plain and simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what to put as a summary, but you can guess, right? Some smut is beggining to appear, oops.

It was the end of November, almost two months since Liam and Niall had made their relationship official. Everything was going great if you asked them, not once had they had a fight other than where did you put the remote for the TV or food, so they were more than okay with everything.

But there were some things on their minds, well, two things on Liam’s mind and one on Niall’s apart from trying to avoid one of Liam’s.

Liam needed to talk to his mum as soon as possible but he needed Niall to get out so he could do it, so he came up with some excuse.

 “Gaaaaaah, I’m so lazy” Liam said laying down on the sofa, “do you mind going out to buy some food?” Liam asked Niall pouting.

Niall rolled his eyes, “okay, what do you want for dinner?”

“I don’t know, surprise me?”

“Alright, I’ll be back in a bit then” Niall told him.

“Take your time!” Liam told him as he saw Niall taking his keys and wallet and walk out of the door.

As soon as the door was closed, he sat up, took his phone out of his pocket and dialed his mum’s number. He needed to talk to her.

The line beeped a few times before hearing a “hello?” from his mum.

“Hi, mum” Liam said to him.

“Liam! You haven’t called in a few days, is everything alright?”

“Of course, I’ve been busy…”

“Oh… and does that involve another certain person?” his mother asked him, knowingly. Liam had already told her he was seeing someone one time he’d spoke on the phone with her, he just didn’t say if he was a he or a she, or their name or anything really. His family already knew about his sexuality though, they shouldn’t be surprised.

“Uhm… yeah, that’s kind of what I want to talk to you about, but I need you to leave your judgments aside if you want to know the whole story, alright?”

“… alright” his mother said slowly, Liam could almost saw her frowning in confusion, he knew his mum all too well.

“Okay, so I don’t have a lot of time so I’m going to sum up. I’ll start saying it’s a he, not a she, alright?” and then he stopped talking, to let the information sink in, waiting for some response from his mum, and after some time, he got none, so he decided to speak again, “Mum?”

“Yes, yes, sorry, I’m here, it’s just… I mean, I knew- well, we knew you liked boys, yes, but this is new, you’ve never told us about any boy you’d seen before-“

“Well that’s because they weren’t special, this one is.”

“I bet he is” his mum said laughing.

“Okay, now I’m going to tell you the story and it’s all kind of fucked up so I hope you’ll understand how did I get here.”

“Okay, I’m all ears.”

“So when I moved here to London, there was this homeless guy living on the streets, just on the opposite one of where I live and Louis told me everyone around here knew him, you remember Louis, right?” he asked and his mother replied with a ‘mhm’ so he kept on talking, “well, I don’t know, there was something about him, so I just started saying hi to him one day and one thing led to another and one day I started buying him food and stuff because it made me feel bad to see him like that and-“

“Wait, wait, Liam, you don’t mean you’re dating some homeless guy, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, but he’s not homeless anymore, he lives with me now.”

“LIAM JAMES-“

“NO MUM, WAIT” he cut her before she could finish, “you need to listen to the whole story” he told her and heard her sigh.

“Okay, go on then.”

“Okay, so one day I saw him and he had a lot of bruises on his face and I decided to give him that thing I used when I was bullied, you remember that, right? And he was getting a lot better, and like, a couple of days after that, like, a little more than two months ago, when it was autumn and it was like really cold, I was with Louis and a friend and we found him and he was sick, but like, terrible, he had a lot of fever and I wanted to take him to the hospital but Louis hates hospitals so we brought him to my flat and we called a doctor who told us he had an infection and we had to take him to the hospital and well, after that I brought him here cause I couldn’t leave him in the streets again because by that point I had already talked to him a couple or more times and he was nice, he is nice, actually and nobody deserves to live the way he lived so he stayed here and yeah, we fell in love, I guess?”

“That’s the whole story?”

“Yeah, kind of a sum up but yes.”

“And what is he doing with his life now?”

“Well, nothing right now, I was thinking about getting him a job somewhere.”

“So he’s living off your money right now.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way-“

“Liam, I really don’t want you to hate me or anything, and I’m not trying to judge but don’t you think he’s using you?” she asked but sounded calm, not angry or anything.

“No! He’d never do that, mum! You have to meet him, really, he’s the nicest guy ever.”

“Alright then, if he’s there then put him on the phone or something.”

“He’s not here now, he should be anytime soon, we can skype when he’s back if you want.”

“That would be nice, so I can see him.”

“Okay, we’ll do that, but I need to ask you something, that’s the reason I called.”

“Oh, I knew it. What is it?”

“I wanted to know if I could bring him along with me for Christmas and New Year’s holidays, I mean, I haven’t asked him yet but I don’t want to leave him here…”

“I think I need to at least talk to him once, not that I don’t trust you but…”

“I understand-“ he started but was cut off by Niall entering the flat. “Oh, there you are,” he said to Niall and then went back to his phone, “he’s here, go to skype, mum, I’ll see you there in a minute!” and then hung up. “Niall, you’re meeting my mum, come on, come here!”

Niall’s eyes widen, “w- what?”

“I told my mum about you, I mean, he knew I was dating someone, but I told her that we are official now, so she wants to meet you.”

“But- but what do I tell her about-“

“I already told her the whole story, I couldn’t lie to her, so don’t worry.”

“Okay” Niall said but still unsure.

 He walked to the sofa and sat beside Liam who was opening Skype. A minute later, a woman’s face appeared on the screen.

“Liam!” she exclaimed, “I haven’t seen your face in such a long time!” she laughed.

“Oh, shut up, mum” he said and rolled his eyes and then turned to look at Niall who was blushing like mad and looking down, so Liam took his hand and squeezed it a bit and then turned to the screen again, “so, mum… this is Niall.”

Niall saw the woman in the computer turn to him, “hello, Niall” she said simply.

“Hello, Ms. Payne” Niall said with a shy smile.

“Oh, no need to be so formal, you can call me Karen” she said smiling and waving a hand.

“Uhm, okay…”

“So, mum, is there anything you want to ask him or tell him?”

“Not really,” she said and spoke to Niall, “just, I hope you are making my son happy and you’re taking good care of him now that I can’t, he’s very fragile even if he doesn’t seem to be.”

“Muuuuuuuuum!” Liam almost whined and blushed, and Niall smiled at Karen’s words.

“What? It’s true!”

And just as Liam was about to object, Niall spoke first, “I know he is, but he’s an amazing human being as well, I’m very lucky to have him, you made a great job with him” he said turning to look at Liam and smile at him sweetly, and then looked back to the screen to see how Liam’s mother smiled at the sight of them, “I know Liam already told you the entire story of how we met, so no need to lie about it, I know it may seem like I’m just using him or something but I swear even thought I don’t have anything to give I love him with all my heart” he finished and he could see a tear rolling down her face but with a smile.

“You seem to be a very nice boy, I can see why Liam loves you so much.”

“Thank you Ms. Pa- Karen” he corrected himself.

“Nothing to be thankful for. And Liam,” she said then, speaking to his son, “to answer what you asked me on the phone, the answer is yes.”

Liam smile was big, “thank you mum! I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay. Take care of yourselves, boys!”

“Bye!” both boys said at the same time, and then Liam closed his laptop.

He turned to Niall then and kissed him hard on the lips, his hands at each side of the blond’s face. “I can’t believe you said all that to my mum, Niall, I love you so much, you have no idea” he said when they had pulled apart.

“I just wanted to let her know that I’m not going to ruin you” Niall said with a shrug. “What is that you asked her and she said yes though?” he added later.

“Oh, I’ll tell you in a minute, I need to talk to you about something first.”

_‘No, not this again, I have no excuses now’_ Niall thought. And apparently Liam could read his face.

“I know you had been trying to avoid this conversation for quite some time now, may I know why? Do you even know what I’m going to ask you?”

Niall let out a long sigh and let his back hit the back of the sofa, “I know. You want to help me find a job, right?”

“Well, yes,” Liam said, “what is it so wrong about that?”

Niall brought his hands to his head and then ran them through his hair, “it’s just… Jesus, this is so embarrassing…”

“Ni, you can tell me, I won’t be mad” Liam said to reassure him.

“I, uhm… I never finished high school…” Niall said softly.

Liam just stayed there, blinking at him for a minute before reacting, “you never- you never got to finish school?” he asked with a little frown.

Niall shook his head no.

“Wow, I mean, no, I mean- I don’t even know.”

“I’m sorry, Liam, for not being enough.” Niall said looking down.

Liam then looked at him and frowned, “what does that even mean? You know what, don’t answer. We’ll find some school so you can start next semester so you finish it.”

“Really?” Niall asked, his eyes wide.

“Of course, Ni, I want you to finish high school so you can get a job and study after that, I mean, if you want to study, you do want to, right?”

“Yeah…” he said smiling.

“What do you want to do?” Liam asked interested and moved Niall closer to him so he was almost sitting in his lap.

“Uhm… I always wanted to be a chef…” Niall blushed.

“You can cook?!” Liam almost yelled but seemed surprised, “And all this time I’ve been buying already cooked meals?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Because, uhm, you don’t like or know how to cook and you don’t really have a lot of things in the kitchen and I didn’t want to ask you to buy everything cause I thought I was going to bother you or you’ll think that I don’t appreciate you buying our food or something.”

Liam stared at him, “Niall, that is stupid.”

“I know, I’m sorry” Niall said and hid his face on Liam’s neck, the older boy’s hands going immediately to the blond’s hair and ran his fingers through it.

“We’ll go to the groceries later and we’ll buy a lot of food, alright? I want you to cook for me.”

“My pleasure” Niall said smiling at him.

Liam placed a kiss on his boyfriend’s lips and then told him, “alright, so there’s another thing I want to talk to you about, well, more like, ask you.”

“Okay?” Niall said confused.

“What do you usually do for Christmas holidays?”

“Well, uhm…” Niall started and then felt sadness ran inside him, those were the times he missed his family and telling Liam how he spend his last holidays was kind of embarrassing, “when I was back in Ireland I used to spend it with my family, but when I came here and everything went to shit and blahblah you already know the story, then, uhm… there were some shelter were you could go, they’ll give you food and you could stay there and stuff. I used to go to this one where I could play guitar, it has always been one of my favorite things to do.” He finished with a shrug.

“I didn’t know you played the guitar” Liam said, “there are so many things I don’t know about you” he added then.

“Pretty sure those were the only two things you didn’t know about me” Niall told him.

“Well, but those are important things!”

“Well then you know now!”

“Okay, okay. So, the reason I asked was because I asked my mum if I could bring you along with me when I go back home for holidays, and she said yes” he said smiling brightly.

“Are you- are you sure?” Niall asked.

“One hundred percent sure,” he told him, “I don’t want to leave you here, and I think it’s okay for my family to meet you, you know?”

“I mean, if you think so… but like, you don’t have to-“

“Oh no, not again,” Liam said, “don’t start with the “you don’t have to do that, Liam” thing, I want you to come with me cause you’re someone special to me, so you’re coming, alright? No buts.”

“Okay, thanks Liam. I love you.” He said smiling and then moved to sit in Liam’s lap and kissed him, but it wasn’t just a small kiss on the lips, he pressed his lips against Liam’s in some kind of demanding way, he didn’t intend it to be that way, but he wanted Liam to know he was thankful for everything he has done for him so far. And as he didn’t have money or anything, he thought he could maybe show him with… sex?

Which bring us to what has been on Niall’s head lately. He was horny, plain and simple. And a lot lately. And the whole ‘I want to make it up to you’ thing was the perfect excuse, but he knew Liam wasn’t completely ready yet, so he’ll have to start simple.

He kept on kissing Liam, nibbling at his bottom lip until the older boy opened his mouth to let Niall’s tongue in. Niall was kissing him with a strength Liam has never felt before, letting out a low moan, but he let him do it anyway while he let his hands travel up and down Niall’s clothed back to stop when he got to his waist and stayed there. Niall, instead, let his hands wander from Liam’s neck, to his ribs until he got to his pants and started struggling with Liam’s pants buttons. Liam then put his hands over Niall’s ones to stop him.

“Wh- what are you doing?” he asked as he felt Niall kissing down his neck.

“I just felt like I needed to make it up to you and thought this would be okay,” he said and then lifted his face from Liam’s neck to look him in the eye, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable” he said and blushed, looking down.

“You don’t need to make anything up to me, Niall, everything I do, I do it because I want to, I love you.”

“I love you too, Li, but, do you, uhm- do you not want me?”

 Liam then took the blond’s face in his hands, “of course I do, fuck, I really do, yes, but not like this. We’ll get there, okay? But let’s take it slow.”

Niall sighed, “okay” he said, dropping his arms to his side.

Liam looked at him and frowned, “there’s something else, isn’t it?”

“No, everything’s fine” he lied.

“Niall” Liam said warningly.

Niall sighed in frustration, “it’s just… ugh, this is so embarrassing, fuck it, I don’t know, I’ve been feeling so horny lately, Liam, shit” he said looking down again.

“Oh” Liam said and dropped his hands from Niall’s face, “I haven’t been paying enough attention to you, with all the stress about my exams and work and everything, Niall, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s not like we were doing anything about it anyway” he shrugged.

Liam rolled his eyes, “are you horny right now? Do you want me to do anything about it?” he asked Niall with a fake innocent face but the blond could see him trying to hide a smirk.

“Well, uhm, kind of and… yeah…” the blond said blushing furiously hiding his face in the crook of Liam’s neck.

Liam then took him off his lap and stood up, taking Niall by the hand so he was standing up too. “Come on, let’s go to the bedroom” he said.

Niall opened his eyes wide, “but didn’t you say we-“

“Shh, just come with me, alright?” Liam said walking to the bedroom and Niall nodded.

Once they got there, Liam turned to kiss Niall, but it was sweet like he didn’t want to rush anything, and then started pushing Niall towards the bed. He wasn’t going to fuck him or suck him off yet, but as Niall fell with his back against the bed, Liam on top of him still kissing, he could feel the blond’s erection through their still clothed crotches.

He started tugging at the hem of Niall’s shirt and pulled his lips away from the blond ones only to take the shirt off. He let his hands touch Niall’s sides softly, like caressing him, then his abs until he got to his pants and started pushing them down as there were no buttons because Niall was wearing sweatpants. He pushed them down a little, until they were around Niall’s knees and then the blond moved to took them off completely. And then Liam stopped kissing Niall and got off from him, the blond looked at him confused and was about to ask but Liam cut him off.

“Take those off” Liam told Niall pointing at his boxers as he was taking his shirt off. Niall blushed but took them slowly anyway as he saw Liam going to his drawer to look for something.

A minute later Liam was standing next to the bed and when Niall saw that what he was holding in his hand was a little bottle of lube, he opened his eyes wide, now he wasn’t so sure about this.

Liam was talking his jeans off too because it would feel weird if Niall was completely naked and he wasn’t, but he kept his boxers on though. He then sat on the bed, his legs a little spread and pat the space on the bed between them, “sit here” he told Niall.

“Are you going to…” Niall said looking at the lube he was holding with a worried look.

“No, don’t worry just sit here, come on” Liam told him and Niall obeyed, sitting in between Liam’s legs, putting his own legs at each side of the older boy’s legs.

Liam then uncapped the lube and put some on his right hand before rubbing both of his hands together just to warm up the lube a little so it wouldn’t be too cold. He leaned to press a kiss on Niall’s lips as he took the blond’s cock in his hand. Niall let a gasp escape his lips between the kiss when he felt Liam’s hand on him and starting to move slowly.

“Is this okay?” Liam asked after a few minutes, pulling away from his boyfriend’s lips.

“Mhm… perfect” Niall answered, chasing the older boy’s lips with his own. He could see Liam’s erection tenting his boxers. “I want- _ah_ ” he cut himself when he felt Liam’s thumb spreading the precum on the tip.

“What do you want?” Liam asked placing a kiss behind Niall’s ear.

“I want- I want to touch you.”

Liam shook his head no, “this is about you, not about me” he told Niall.

“It’s- _ah, fuck_ \- it’s not about me, it’s about us.”

Liam lifted his head to look at Niall, his hand never stopped moving, and it was still doing it a very slow pace. “Okay” he said, and let go of Niall’s length to stand for a minute to take his boxers off.

Niall’s eyes went wide, “Shit, you’re… big. How am I suppose to fit that on my-“ he started but he was cut off by Liam’s lips.

“Let’s not think about that now, alright?”

Niall nodded and took the lube and put some in his hand before grabbing Liam’s erection in his hand, to which Liam let out a groan. Liam went back to what he was doing before, but it was now a little more difficult now due to Niall’s being left handed and the angle was now a bit weird, but they made it work.

They kept on stroking each other slowly at first, speeding up the pace as the minutes passed. Each of them supporting his own weight on the bed with his free hand. They never stopped kissing, on the lips, maybe one of them will go lower and kiss the other’s jawline, both of them has achieved to leave some lovebites or marks on the other’s neck.

After some minutes, Niall started bucking his hips but Liam stopped him by holding him by the waist.

“Liam, please…”

“Hmm, what do you need, babe?”

“Just… can you- faster, please?”

Liam didn’t say anything, he just started moving his hand faster up and down Niall’s cock, flicking his wrist around the head and hearing the gasps and all the ah’s and oh’s the blond would let out.

Niall was just about to explode but he wanted Liam to come with him, so he sped the pumping with his hand.

“Fuck” Liam said, half moan half gasp.

“Liam, I’m gonna-“

“Mhm, come on, Ni” Liam said and bit on Niall’s neck, and that was it, Niall started shooting his load over Liam’s hand and his own chest as he let out a loud moan.

The feeling of Niall pulsing in his hand and the moan that the blond let out was enough for Liam to be sent over the edge, “Ni, I’m going to-“

“Cum” Niall said with a hoarse voice and pressed his lips hard against Liam’s. And then Liam did, white ribbons adorning his chest and Niall’s hand.

Once they had rode out their orgasms they fell on the bed breathing heavy.

“Was that any good?” Liam asked, turning to Niall, still trying to catch his breath.

“That was… fuck, that was amazing, Liam, thank you” he said, his chest still moving up and down quickly.

Liam chuckled, “are you really thanking me for sex? Well, not really sex but… yeah, you get what I mean.”

Niall laughed, “you’re dumb” he said and moved closer to kiss Liam.

And after that, Liam took a tissue from his bedside table to clean them and covered them with the blankets before falling asleep, the food Niall has bought long forgotten.

*

After that episode, it seemed like they couldn’t keep their hands to theirselves, touching each other all the time. Louis even had to told them off because “ugh guys, too much PDA!” which made both boys laugh.

But after a month of a lot of kissing and handjobs, Niall felt like he needed more, no, actually, he wanted to give Liam more, but the thing was, Liam was too preoccupied with studying, and that last week he had barely saw Liam away from books, he missed him and Liam looked like shit, his hair was a mess and he had bags under his eyes and he looked so tired like he hadn’t slept in a whole month and was stressed as fuck, he could tell because everytime Niall tried to talk to him he would be all grumpy or won’t even pay attention to him. So he was decided to get him back and this time, he’ll go a little further. Hopefully Liam would let him.

So that night Liam was as always locked up in his room, sitting in bed surrounded by anatomy books and notebooks with notes he had made in class and photocopies all spread over the bed and even some of them on the floor around him, when he felt someone knock on his room door before a blond head appeared.

Liam knew he had been treating his boyfriend terribly this past week but he couldn’t help to feel exhausted and tired and worried and anxious about his exams coming up and he didn’t want to drag Niall with him so it was better that way.

Niall entered the room and sat on the bed behind Liam, putting his hands on Liam’s back and started to give him a massage. Liam closed his eyes and leaned into Niall’s touch.

“You alright there, Li? You look terrible.”

Liam let out a deep sigh, “I’m exhausted. And my head hurts like fuck. And I want to sleep but I can’t seem to.”

Niall took his hands off Liam’s body and said, “I want to try something. But I need you to let me do it, okay?”

Liam turned to look at him with a confused expression but nodded anyways.

Niall stood up and moved Liam until he was sitting on the edge of the bed and Niall sat on his lap and started kissing him, tugging at the hair on the back of Liam’s head just how he knew he liked. Liam moaned into the kiss and some moments later Niall could feel Liam growing hard in his pants as he bucked his hips a little. Niall smiled into the kiss but then pulled apart to kneel on the floor between Liam’s legs. He looked up to Liam with a smirk on his face and hooked one of his fingers on the waistband of Liam’s sweatpants.

“Let me?” he asked, big blue eyes looking at Liam, and Liam was about to say no because he didn’t think it was fair but how could he say no to him when he was looking at him like that?

Liam nodded slowly and lifted his hips and Niall took his pants and boxers all at once before taking him in his hand and then licking tentatively at the underside of Liam’s cock. Liam shut his eyes closed and laid on the bed a little more, supporting himself on his elbows. Niall took then just the tip in his mouth, running his tongue around it. He had never done that, never gave a blowjob to a guy, but he wanted to try, and he had made some research, of course he’ll get better with practice but he needed to start at some point if he wanted to have some experience, right?

So after a minute Niall started to move his head down Liam’s length until he couldn’t fit anymore and took the rest of it in his hand. He moved his head up again and let go so he could talk, “you’ll have to tell me how you like it, okay?”

Liam nodded, “just- don’t use too much teeth, and you need to- ah fuck” he interrupted himself as he felt Niall taking him in his mouth again, “you need to relax your throat” he finished.

_‘Relax my throat, okay, I can do that’_ Niall thought but “mhm,” was all he said, vibrating around Liam’s cock and sending shivers through the older boy’s body.

Liam kept one of his elbows on the bed but used his other hand to grab Niall’s hair to help him find a rhythm. He opened his eyes to look down just as Niall looked up and shit, if that wasn’t the sexiest thing he’s ever seen so far then he didn’t know. How Niall’s lips looked stretched around his cock and how his pupils were blown, the blue orbs almost all black. He pushed Niall’s head a little too much apparently because Niall then made a choke sound and Liam let go of his hair so Niall could lift his head, eyes a little watery.

“Sorry” Liam said, “you alright?”

_‘Oh, that was so sexy, Niall, yes’_ Niall thought to himself ironically, but instead just chose to say, “mhm,” running his tongue from the base to the tip before going back to take Liam into his mouth and hollowed his cheeks. It was amazing, Niall thought, how he could make Liam feel like this, the little sounds he was making.  

Liam’s hands were on the blond’s hair again but he was more careful this time, and a couple of minutes later, Liam could feel his orgasm forming on the pit of his stomach. He tugged at Niall’s hair then, as a warning, “Ni, I’m gonna cum” he said, and Niall hollowed his cheeks one last time before letting go and started to move his hand up and down Liam’s shaft and lifted himself so he was kissing him on the lips, he didn’t think Liam would mind tasting himself.

“ _Aah, shit_ ” Liam said, releasing himself over the blond’s hand and staining his shirt. Niall had kept moving his hand until Liam was completely finished and then he take his hand out and brought it to his lips, he licked a little of the cum that was there, it wasn’t as terrible as he thought it might taste, it was good, actually.

“You taste good” he told Liam.

The brown haired boy chuckled, cleaning himself with a tissue and pulling his boxers and pants up again, “that was so sexy, Niall, fuck. Sorry for, you know, making you choke.”

Niall blushed, “it’s alright,” he shrugged, “it was the first time I’ve done this, I’ll get better eventually.”

“I don’t even know if it can get any better than that” Liam said laying on the bed, still breathing quickly. “Do you want me to-“ he started but Niall stopped him.

“No,” he said firmly, “you need to sleep, I can take care of myself.”

“But-“

“Nope, there are not buts, Liam, off to bed you go” he said taking all the things from Liam’s bed and putting them on the desk.

“Alright,” Liam said, “but I’ll get back to you.”

Niall smirked, “I look forward to it.”

And after that he was out of Liam’s room, with a smile on his face, he went to his own room (yes, they were still sleeping on separate rooms because Liam thought it was the best thing to do) and stripped out of his clothes. He laid there and took his own cock in his hand before starting to pump it slowly as he thought of how Liam had looked some minutes ago, the way he moaned and the sounds he made, how full of lust his eyes were. He let his other hand wander over his balls, touching them lightly and he was tempted to let it go a little lower just to know how it felt. He let himself circle his hole with a finger but wasn’t sure about letting a finger slip inside yet, but he didn’t have any more time to think about it because then he was coming all over himself with a moan.

And if Liam was hearing him from the other room and had to wank at the sounds Niall was making, coming with his knuckles between his teeth so he wouldn’t make any sound, then no one ever said anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hopefully that wasn't as bad as I think it is.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “no one, ever, is going to be better than you. Do I need to explain you why? You’re the best that’s ever happened to me, okay? I love you.”

Their two months anniversary was almost two weeks ago, but unfortunately it wasn’t spent as they would have liked to. Niall had even planned what to cook for a romantic dinner but it couldn’t be done.

_Flashback_

Niall opened the door to Liam’s bedroom, it was Saturday so he didn’t have to go anywhere, he saw Liam’s sleeping figure and approached the bed and jumped on top of him.

“Liaaaaaaaam, happy two months!” he exclaimed almost yelling.

Liam let out a groan and squirmed behind Niall’s body. He was shaking. He opened his eyes and when Niall looked at his face, he knew something was wrong.

“What time is it?” Liam asked groggily.

“A little past ten. Are you alright, Li? You look terrible.”

“Yeah… no. I’m cold and my head’s spinning.”

Niall placed a hand of his boyfriend’s forehead, “you have a fever” he said when he pulled his hand away.

“No, I don’t” Liam said frowning and trying to get up but his muscles felt much too weak to.

Niall chuckled and then sighed, “well, happy anniversary for us. I’m going to get you some tea and an aspirin or something, alright? You’ll feel a little better.”

“Okay. Thanks, Ni.”

So Liam spent almost five days in bed because he had caught some bad flu, high fever and his body hurt all over, Niall had to call a doctor to go check up on him after three days because he wasn’t feeling any better. But he did after a few days of taking the meds he was prescribed and everything went back to normal.

They couldn’t celebrate their anniversary the way the wanted to, they just spent that they in bed with tea and soup and watching movies with Liam falling asleep on Niall every other time. The blond didn’t mind though, he was taking care of his boyfriend in spite of his complaints.

“No, you need to stay away from me or you’ll catch whatever this is” said Liam as he tried to get away from Niall even though he wanted nothing more than to snuggle up to him.

“I don’t care, I’m staying here and I’m taking care of you, Li, so if you don’t want to touch me then you’ll have to stay curled up there” he said looking at Liam who was now curled up on the other side of the bed.

“Niall, please, I mean it.”

“So do I, and I don’t have to go anywhere so there’s no harm in me being sick as long as you feel better.”

“If you got sick but I start to feel good again then I’m staying home, I’m not going anywhere.”

“But uni and your work and-“

“Then stay away!”

“I’m not, Liam, Jesus” Niall said laughing and moved closer to Liam to wrap his arms around him.

“Noooo, Niall, stop it!” Liam said but he was too weak to even try to fight him, and he tried to laugh but he choked and started coughing hard. Niall got up quickly to get him a glass of water that Liam poured in a second.

“Thanks” he said to the blond when his coughing stopped.

“You’re welcome, now, which movie do you want to watch?” Niall asked him as Liam eventually gave up trying to keep him away so the younger boy wrapped his arm around Liam’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around the blond’s middle under the blankets. No need to say that Liam was asleep half an hour into the movie.

Luckily, Liam got better a couple of days after and he was able to go to uni and work and Niall didn’t get sick, yay! So everything was perfect for now.

_End flashback_

There were less than two weeks for Christmas now and they had to start packing things and buying presents for the rest. Both of them already knew what they were going to buy for each other so they’ll just have to find the right moment to go buy it without the other finding out. But there was something they had to do before all of that.

“Niall, come on, hurry up!”

“I’m going, jeez, what is with you?”

“I need to go to uni after this so can we please go?”

“I told you I can go on my own, you don’t have to come with me!”

“But I want to!”

“Ugh, okay, I’m ready, let’s go.”

They headed out of their flat to then exit the building and take a taxi to make it faster. They were going to some school they found so Niall could start next semester. It was for adults, he could do his last year in one semester, kind of an AP.

Liam was more than happy to go with Niall to see if everything was right and Niall couldn’t be any happier to have found someone that was supporting him through this, that was willing to pay for him to finish his education and to be by his side always.

When they got there, they were just a couple of people so they went straight to the secretary’s office who gave them some instruction to where they had to head. They ended up in an office with some woman who was in charge of the registrations where Niall had to fill in some form with name, age, phone number, address and his former education and all that stuff. He wanted to fill his marital status with ‘engaged’ or something just to tease Liam but the older boy went completely red.

 “I’m just joking around, Li, nothing to be serious about” he laughed it off.

“Someday” Liam mumbled and Niall smiled but didn’t say anything back.

Once he was done he handed it back to the woman. She seemed to be quite nice but tired, she smiled at him anyways.

“We’ll call you or send you an e-mail when we know when the classes are starting, but please feel free to contact us if something comes up.”

“Alright, thank you so much” Niall told the woman and then they headed out of the building.

Once outside the building, they intertwined their fingers.

“I’m so proud of you” Liam said suddenly.

“And why is that?” Niall asked confused.

“I don’t know, most people who drop off school just try to find some job or something and move on with their lives but you’re going to be different, you’re special.”

Niall chuckled, “I’m nothing special for finishing school, Li.”

“Sh, you are if I say so.”

“Alright, alright, don’t get mad at me” the blond said laughing and placed a kiss on Liam’s cheek while they kept on walking.

Someone on the street who saw them yelled a ‘fags!’ at them and Liam kind of wanted to go and punch them in the face but Niall stopped him and shook his head, “it’s not even worth it” he said.

“I know, sorry, it’s just… it makes me sick, you know? Those people.”

“I know, me too, Li, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Well I can punch them in the face an-“

“You just want to show off your boxing skills because you started going to the gym again” Niall said teasing him and just for the sake of changing the topic.

“Shut up” Liam said laughing.

“It’s true! You want to fight people just to let them know you’re all strong and manly even though you’re a ‘fag’.” Niall laughed.

“That’s not funny” Liam said with a raised eyebrow.

“But it’s the truth” he said shrugging but still smiling.

“Ha ha, I’ll show you funny-“

“Oooooh, you’d like to, right?”

They ended up laughing at how stupid that conversation was.

“Come on, you still have time until you leave for uni,” Niall said and then leaned in closer to Liam’s ear, “let’s go back home and I’ll blow you before you have to go.”

Liam groaned a little in response to that and Niall laughed at how his words affected the boy. They took a taxi back home and as soon as they entered their flat, Liam led them to the bedroom and two seconds after that Niall was on his knees.

*

It was Friday and Niall got up from bed as soon as he heard the door close after Liam went to work. He was going to buy his Christmas present today, he already knew what he was buying, he’s been saving for quite some time now. It made him feel guilty in some kind of way, it’s not like he’s been stealing Liam’s money, he just been keeping change from he went to buy food or things or that kind of stuff, hopefully it’ll be enough.

He wanted to start his day fresh so he took a shower and brushed his teeth before going to the kitchen to have some breakfast before putting some clothes on and headed out of their flat to some mall or somewhere where he can find some nice jewelry.

After walking around in the mall and looking at some things that caught his attention, he finally found the right place. He entered the shop and was immediately greeted by a woman.

“Hello, love, may I help you with something?”

“Uhm, yeah, I’m looking for some kind of bracelet or strap, but I want to have something engraved on it, and I want it to be something simple?”

The woman didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds, thinking about what to offer him and then smiled, “I think I know what you need, over here, please” she said walking to another section of the shop where she took a box out of a glass cabinet.

“Take a look and let me know if there’s any of them you like” the woman told him with a polite smile.

“Okay, thank you” he told the woman, starting to look at everything that was neatly placed inside the box.

It took him some minutes to look at everything, and at first he couldn’t decide between three different ones but because of the price, he took one out, which left him with two different.

“Uhm… can I ask you for a favor?” Niall said timidly.

“Of course, what do you need?” the woman asked.

“Can you try these on?” he said pointing at the two straps in his hand, “your skin tone is similar to his” he said, a small blush appearing in his cheeks.

The woman smiled sweetly at the boy standing in front of her, “of course, love” she said taking both straps and putting them around his wrists.

He looked carefully at both, why was it so hard, Jesus, Niall thought. But he finally made up his mind.

“I’ll go with that one,” he said pointing at the one in her right wrist.

“Good choice,” she said, “what do you want written on it?”

“Uhm, do you have something to write on? I’ll write it down so it’s easier.”

“Okay?” the woman said, looking confused and handed him a piece of paper and a pen.

He scrabbled the words down in the paper and gave it back to the woman, who looked at it, “Oh” she said, “now I know why you wanted to write it down” she laughed and Niall smiled a little, “so, what kind of font do you want for it?”

“Uhm, I never thought about that…” he started, “I don’t know, something like italics but not too girly?” he said confused.

“I know exactly what you mean, it’ll look great, believe me.”

“Okay,” he said, “so, when is it going to be ready?”

“Probably in like an hour? You can go and have a walk and come back later if you want.”

“Alright, I’ll do that then, I’ll be back later. Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem, sweetheart.”

And after that, Niall walked out of the shop and took out his phone. _‘1 new message’_ huh, he didn’t noticed.

_From: Li_

_work is boring and I miss you ):_

Niall smiled at the text and typed a response,

_To: Li_

_miss you too ): what are we doin’ today?_

A minute later his phone started vibrating and Liam’s picture appeared on the screen, he unlocked it to pick up.

“Hello?” he said, a little confused that Liam was calling him during work, he never did before.

“Hey babe” Niall blushed at the nickname, he always did.

“Why are you calling me during work? Did something happen?”

“Jeez, I can’t call my boyfriend now without something happening?”

“No, I mean, I’m glad you called but it’s weird?”

Liam chuckled, “I’m calling because Louis called me and it was too long to text it. So he called me and asked if we wanted to come around tonight because he’s leaving to go home tomorrow and Zayn is leaving next week, so we can have some kind of early Christmas or something like that?”

“Oh. Sure, why not?”

“Okay, so what do you say we go shopping-“ Liam cut himself because of some background noise he heard on the other side of the line, “where are you?”

“I, uhm, I was bored at home so I went for a little walk” Niall said.

“Oh. Sorry you get bored at home- ugh, fucking shit.”

Niall chuckled, “what happened?”

“I almost spill my coffee over my work- anyways, why don’t we go shopping today and buy something for the boys before they leave?”

“Okay. Are you coming home for lunch?” God, they sounded like a married couple.

“Uh, I don’t think so, I have some things to do here, sorry.”

“It’s okay. Text me when you’re ready and I’ll meet you somewhere.”

“Alright. I’ll go back to work now, see you later, Ni.”

“See you, Li, love you.”

“Love you too, bye.”

And then he hung up. He just walked around the mall and the streets for an hour until it was time to go pick Liam’s present.

When he entered the shop again, he was greeted by the same woman.

“Oh, there you are, everything’s ready” she said pulling out a velvet box, “here, take a look at it.”

Niall took the little box and opened it and smiled.

“Is that what you wanted?” the woman asked him

“It’s perfect,” he said and couldn’t stop smiling, “thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing. I looked that up,” she said pointing at the words in the strap, “I hope you don’t mind. It’s very sweet, he’ll surely love it.”

Niall blushed but thanked her anyways. He then put the box in his pocket and paid the woman and left not before thanking her for her help and for being so nice.

He headed back home for some lunch before going out again with Liam.

*

When Liam finally got out of work, he went to buy Niall’s Christmas present, but he needed to be quick enough so the blond won’t suspect anything about it, but first, he needed to make a call.

He dialed his mum’s number and waited for her to pick up.

“Hello?” his mother’s sounded at the other side of the line.

“Hey mum, I need to be quick so I need to ask you something.”

He heard her sigh, “always asking for things. Alright Liam, what can I do for you?”

“I’m going to buy Niall’s Christmas present right now but I wanted to sent it straight home cause it’s kind of big and I don’t want him to see it if I get him to our flat, so can you just keep in there until then?”

“Oh. Of course. What are you going to buy for him that is so big?”

“Oh, you’ll see when it gets there.”

“Alright, just let me know when is it going to get here.”

“Okay, I’ll text you later, thank you mum!”

And after he finished his talk with his mum, he headed to this place, someone at work told him about, he was sure Niall was going to absolutely love his present.

*

Niall was sitting back home waiting for Liam to text him while watching TV, until his phone vibrated on his pocket. _‘Finally!’_ he thought.

_From: Li_

_i’ve already finished everything, meet at the mall in ten? x_

_To: Li_

_sure, wait for me at the front door x_

He turned off the TV, took his keys and wallet and headed out to the mall. He noticed the day wasn’t as sunny as it was before when he went out to buy Liam’s present, it was kind of cloudy now, the sky grey. He decided he was walking because he didn’t make enough exercise and the mall wasn’t very far away.

He spotted Liam at the front door of the mall when he was in the corner, but what he didn’t notice were his “old friends”.

“Niall! My good friend!” he heard someone behind him. He knew that voice but decided to ignore it because it always led to problems. He started walking faster but no such luck. “That’s pretty rude of you,” the voice said and a hand took him by the wrist to turn him around.

 “And look at you, you look so decent, what happened to you, did you win the lottery?” the other guy said.

Niall hated those guys, they kind of lived on the streets, but they almost always stayed in some shelter. He met them quite some time ago, they used to bit him up a lot, actually, they were the ones who punched him on the face that time Liam saw him.

And Liam, who saw the whole scene from afar, sensed something was wrong when he saw them taking Niall to turn him around by the wrist, so he started walking over there.

“… so what happened to you, Niall? You suddenly disappeared from everywhere!” Liam heard one of the guys saying to Niall when he approached them.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, “can you please let him go?” he said trying to get Niall’s wrist away from the man.

“And who the fuck are you?”

“Don’t do anything to him” Niall said trying to sound sure even though his voice stuttered a little.

“Ooooh, you got yourself a boyfriend, Niall? Are you a boytoy now?”

“What did you just fucking say?” Liam said trying to keep his voice steady but his anger was clear in his yes.

“Oh, look at him, getting all worked up because of his little boy, are you going to punch me?”

“I’m going to kick your fucking ass” Liam answered back and aimed to punch the guy but Niall managed to free himself from the guy’s grip just in time to stop Liam.

“Liam, stop! They are not even worth it” the blond said wrapping his arms around Liam’s middle in chance to stop him. He had to struggle a little, Liam was stronger than him.

“Did you hear what he call you?”

“Yes and I honestly don’t care, they don’t know shit about me.”

“Oh, are we going to play strangers now, Niall?” the man said bitterly and Liam almost took him by the shirt but Niall held him stronger.

Niall rolled his eyes at the guy’s words, “just leave us alone, okay? I’ve done nothing to you, fucking leave.”

“But we’re having so much fun!”

“I swear to fucking God, leave us alone or you’ll end up in the hospital” Liam said warningly.

“You got yourself a strong one, a fighter, huh? We’re leaving but we’ll see you around, have fun fags!” the guy laughed and turned to walk away but Liam, who had freed himself from Niall grip, took him by shirt suit from behind and turn him back to face him and punched him on the face.

“I better not see your face again, alright? Now get off of my sight.”

The guy touched his lip that was started to bleed and looked at Liam with angry eyes, “I’m not sure about that, see you around, LIAM” he said, letting his name roll out of his mouth with some kind of disdain before turning around again to leave.

They both just stood there to watch both guys disappear from their view. Niall then let out a sigh he didn’t even knew he was holding.

“What did you do that for, Li? I told you it didn’t matter.”

“It does matter, Niall! You matter!” Liam said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I’m sorry I put you through that, they like to make my life miserable.”

“It’s alright, let’s not talk about that, okay? Do you want to go back home or-“

“No, let’s just forget about this and go shopping, alright?”

“You sure, Ni?”

“Yeah, I’m sure” he reassured his boyfriend and took his hand to start walking to the mall.

“What are we even suppose to buy for them? Jesus, I’ve always hated Christmas shopping” Liam said.

“Liaaaaaam! Christmas shopping is the best!” he exclaimed, “we can get Zayn some… art supplies, I guess, he’ll love it and he’ll use them” he shrugged.

“Yeah, that’s actually a good idea. We’ll get Louis some clothes, God, he loves new clothes.”

“Alright, let’s get to it then.”

They headed to buy Louis’ present first because they were already in the mall and it was easy, they bought him some stripped shirt and a beanie. The truth was, Louis didn’t really wear stripped shirts anymore, he used to, when Liam met him, and Louis wouldn’t let him use stripes, it was stupid, really, but it was the truth, but he still decided to tease him about it buying him one.

When they decided they were ready to leave and look for some art shop or whatever those places are called, they walked by the jewelry Niall was in this morning, and oh look, the woman who helped him was just walking out of the shop and saw him walking hand in hand with Liam and gave him a small smile and a wink, which made Niall blush.

“Did that woman just winked at you?” Liam asked surprised.

“Uhm, I guess so…”

“See? Even older woman think you’re cute and like you, but unfortunately for them, you’re all mine” Liam told him putting a possessive arm around the blond’s waist.

“I love it when you get all possessive” Niall said and placed a small kiss on his boyfriend’s lips, making him blush. “Why are you blushing?” he asked confused.

“That was our first kiss in public” Liam said with a little smile.

“Oh, but that wasn’t even a proper kiss!”

“I’d rather save those to ourselves” Liam laughed.

And after about like half an hour of walking around the city to find the right place to buy Zayn a present, they found theirselves walking around paint and canvas and things they didn’t know anything about.

“I don’t even know what kind of art Zayn does!”

“I think I heard him talking about spray painting before, we could by him some of those?”

“Yeah, that’s good. And he’s always carrying a sketchbook too, maybe another one and some nice pencils or something?”

“Yeah, I think that would be enough.”

Easier said than done, there were tons of different kinds of spray paint and different sketchbooks because they all had different kind of paper and don’t even get them started on pencils, what difference does graphite made?! They ended up asking one of the girls there to help them find the correct items and after everything was alright, they paid for everything and headed home.

“I’m exhausted,” Liam said closing the door to his flat and setting all the bags with presents on the coffee table, “I think I’m going to take a nap before going to Louis’.”

“Yeah, me too” Niall said.

“Come sleep with me then” Liam told him as he stood up to go to his bedroom, Niall walking right behind him.

*

It was around seven thirty when Liam and Niall were ringing Louis’ bell and then again, Zayn opened the door.

“It looks like you’re the one that lives here, mate, you always open the door” Liam said laughing.

“It’s because you always seem to arrive every time Louis’ talking to Harry.”

“When is he not talking to him?” Liam asked as he and the blond walked inside the flat.

“Right” Zayn said and laughed and closed the door, “what are all those bags for?”

“Oh,” Niall said, “yours and Louis’ chirstmas presents.”

“Aww, can I see mine?” Zayn asked enthusiastically.

“I don’t know, whatever Louis’ says.”

“Liaaaaaaam! Niaaaaall!” they heard Louis call.

“Looooouuuiiiiis!” Niall said back and they all laughed.

“Come talk to Harry!” Louis said as the boys took a seat on the couch, actually, Niall took a seat and Liam sat on his lap. Niall wrapped his arms around Liam’s waist as the older boy’s arm was around the blond’s shoulder. 

“Aww, look at the lovebirds!” Harry said when the laptop was turned to face the boys.

“Shush, Harry” Liam told him.

“Hey, you know what, Niall?” Harry asked him and Niall looked at him as if asking what, “I get to meet you when you come over here for Christmas!”

“Oh, that’s true, I haven’t thought about that” Niall said and smiled, “it’s not like you’re missing anything, I’m no one special to meet” he ended up shrugging and Liam patted him on the back of his head.

“Don’t say that, you are.”

“Aw, look at Liam getting all lovely. You are though, it’s like you got him out of his shell, you know?” Harry said now in a more serious tone.

“What do you mean by that?” Niall asked him and Liam looked at Harry with a _‘watch you’re going to say’_ look.

“Nothing, just, he’s different now, like, before he only cared about studying and he was very reserved and that, he’s a lot more carefree in some kind of way now. He wasn’t even like this when he was with Danielle.”

Liam was about to open his mouth when Louis’ talked first, “Jesus, Harry, remember that guy he slept with in his last year of school? Oh God” Louis laughed.

Liam looked at his friend with his eyes wide, a blush starting to creep up his neck as Niall turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Harry looked at Louis with an exasperated look.

“Louis!” Harry exclaimed and Louis turned to look at the couple sitting next to him.

“Wait, you haven’t told him he’s not the first guy you’ve dated?”

“Well, first of all, I never dated that guy alright, it was just-“

“A hook up” Louis said.

“I don’t like that expression but yeah, I guess it was,” he shrugged, “I really am dating Niall, it’s not the same thing. And I guess it wasn’t ever important so I haven’t talked about it?” Liam finished.

“Well that explains why he’s so good at-“

“WOAH!” Zayn exclaimed but Niall couldn’t finish because Liam put a hand over his mouth before he could and Harry started laughing hard on the other side of the screen.

When Liam took his hand away from the blond’s mouth, he turned to Louis’, “would you mind if I go talk to Liam for a minute?” he asked.

Louis looked at Liam with a guilty expression, “uhm, no, just… go ahead?”

Liam sighed and stood up and headed to Louis’ bedroom, Niall following him.

“But if you’re going to fight and have make up sex I’m burning the sheets!” he yelled at them while Niall closed the door.

“Jesus Christ, Louis!” Zayn told him.

“Nice one there, Tomlinson” Harry said shaking his head.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Liam was a little scared, he didn’t want to lose Niall because of something so stupid.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it, Niall, it wasn’t really important, okay? I-“

“Shh, Li, it’s alright, I don’t care, that’s in the past, right?”

“Yeah, in the very very past. What is it then?”

Niall took a sit in Louis’s bed and let out a sigh and looked down, “Liam, why won’t you have sex with me?”

Liam opened his eyes wide and almost choked on air, “what?”

“Why won’t you have sex with me, Li?” he asked again now looking into Liam’s eyes.

Liam let out a breath and sat on the bed next to Niall, “it’s just… sex is like a really big deal, or at least people make a really big deal out of it, and it takes the relationship to a whole new level I don’t know if we’re ready for, you know what I mean? It’s not like I don’t want to, believe me.”

“I think I’m ready for whatever comes as long as you’re with me,” Niall said and laid his head on Liam’s shoulder, “I think you’re scared but I don’t know about what.”

“I’m scared about a lot of things. I’m scared about hurting you, about losing you, about not being enough, I’m scared you’ll find someone better one day.”

“And you’re trying to keep me with a no sex kind of rule?” Niall chuckled, “You’re weird, people would do it the other way around,” he said making Liam laugh a little, “but it’s okay, it can wait if you’re not ready yet. And Liam,” he said lifting his face to look at Liam straight in the eye and took the older boy’s face in his hands, “no one, ever, is going to be better than you. Do I need to explain you why? You’re the best that’s ever happened to me, okay? I love you.”

Liam smiled sweetly at him and moved closer to kiss his boyfriend on the lips, “I love you too, a lot” he said once they pulled away.

“I think we should go out again or the boy’s will think we’re doing things we’re not” Niall chuckled.

“Alright, let’s go out.”

When they went into the living room again, they found Louis and Zayn playing Xbox, but they paused the game when they saw them entering the room.

“I’m sorry if I caused you any troubles but I thought-“ Liam cut him waving his hand at him.

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

“So everything’s fine then?” Louis asked confused.

“More than fine” Liam replied with a smile.

“Good,” Zayn smiled at them, “I was ready to punch Louis if he ruined your relationship” he laughed.

“No need to do that” Niall laughed too.

“Alright, alright, so everything’s pink again. We ordered some pizza, it should be here soon, can we please finish this, Z?”

“Sure” Zayn said, “can you guys get some beer from the fridge?”

So Niall got some beers and sat there watching Louis and Zayn play some game and soon the pizza arrived and good, because he was starving. They spent the night telling anecdotes from childhood and jokes and then they maybe were kind of tipsy from the who knows how many beers they had and somehow sex was the main topic and Louis found himself talking about his past relationships and yeah, maybe Niall was feeling kind of horny.

“Hey Li,” Louis said smirking at Liam, “I think it’s time for you to take your boy home and take care of him” he finished with a wink, looking at Niall who had his hand on Liam’s upper leg, too close to his crotch and had just placed a kiss on his neck. Liam blushed at his friend’s words, he wasn’t really into PDA’s.

“Yeah, let’s go home, Li” Niall said and Zayn laughed.

“Alright, let’s go” Liam said, standing up and offering his hand to help Niall up which he took.

“Oh, wait!” Liam said, “we didn’t give you your presents!”

“Uuuuugh” Niall said and fell back down on the couch.

Louis and Zayn started laughing at Niall’s reaction and Liam rolled his eyes but laughed anyways.

“Alright, you can give them to us quickly and you can go home,” Louis said and Liam grabbed the bags they had brought and gave them each his own.

Louis opened his bag and took out a stripped shirt, “ha ha, so funny, Liam” he said and Liam laughed at him.

“I knew you’ll love it.”

“I do, thanks,” he said and took out the beanie, “yay, I love beanies!” he exclaimed and put it on his head immediately.

Zayn unwrapped his present, it was a big box, and when he opened it, his face light up, “wow, thank you so much, guys, this is great!” he said taking some of the things out of the box to inspect them.

“It was all Niall’s idea, actually.”

“Really?” Zayn asked and looked at Niall, “hey, thanks mate, this is all so fucking cool!”

Niall looked at him from his spot on the sofa and smiled big at him, “I knew you’ll like them.”

“Okay,” Louis spoke again, “we’ll give you your presents and you can take them home with you and open them later so you can go now, but call us later and let us know if you liked them, okay?” Louis said.

“We can open them now and-“

“Liam,” Louis said putting a hand on his shoulder, “go.”

Liam frowned in confusion, “okay… come on, Ni, let’s go” he said and Niall stood up and went to hug his friends.

“You guys have a good time at home, alright?”

“You too, have a fun time meeting Liam’s family, they are lovely people!” Louis told him and Niall blushed.

Liam then gave them a hug too and wished them a merry Christmas before leaving, promising they’ll call when they had opened their presents.

They took a taxi to their flat, it was piercing cold outside as the winter was almost settled. So once they got out of the car they almost ran to the comfort of their flat.

Liam had planned to try and put Niall to bed as he seemed to be a little drunk and was all touchy during the car ride home, but Niall had other plans, and as soon as Liam closed the door, Niall had him pressed against the door, kissing him hard, not an inch between their bodies. Liam yelped in surprise but kissed him back nonetheless, they hadn’t kissed in hours and he missed the feel of the other boy’s lips on his but when Niall went to his belt, he stopped him there.

“No, Ni, you’re drunk.”

Niall chuckled, “I’m not drunk, Li, I’m not that much a light weight, I’m irish, remember?” he said and winked at him, “that was just all an act cause I’m horny as hell and I wanted to leave.”

“Did you really just make me leave my friend’s house cause you were horny?”

“What was I supposed to do? Say “HEY LIAM SUCK MY COCK I’M HORNY”? I wasn’t going to do that!” Liam burst out laughing.

“Alright, alright,” he said taking Niall by the hand and guided him to his bedroom until the blond was lying on the bed, Liam crawling over his body and kissing him.

They only broke the kiss to get rid of their clothes, leaving only their boxers on and resume their activity of kissing. Liam kissed him on the lips, going lower, his jawline, his neck, sucking a lovebite in Niall’s collarbone and then kept going lower and sucked on the blond’s right nipple which made him gasp.

“Liam, please.”

“Mhm” was the only response Niall got from the older boy, who was kissing down his chest and abs, leaving a trail of wet kisses until he got to the elastic of his boxers, he stopped there and took his boxers first before taking Niall’s off. He kneeled in between his legs and took just the tip in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it before lowering his head and sucked, he kept that just for a minute or two and then he used his hands to spread Niall’s legs wider and let a finger touch around his hole and then let go of the blond’s cock and pressed a kiss on his thigh.

“I thought we should try something different tonight, what do you say?” Liam asked kissing up and down the blond’s thigh but not touching him.

“Yeah, okay…” Niall said, already too gone to even think about it, he had done it a couple of times before, finger himself, it was good but nothing that special, maybe he wasn’t doing it right?

Liam moved from his spot in between Niall’s legs to look for lube and went back.

“This might be a bit uncomfortable at first, alright?”

“I know,” Niall said, spreading his legs wider to Liam, “I’ve done it a couple of times.”

Liam choked on his own saliva, “you did?” he asked, voice low and eyes filled with lust at the image of Niall fingering himself.

“Yeah… it was kind of… weird” he admitted.

Liam chuckled, “that’s cause you’ve been doing it wrong” he said while spreading lube on his fingers.

“Why don’t you show me how it’s done then?” Niall said lifting his body to support himself on his elbows to look at Liam and winked at him.

Liam smirked at him and kneeled between his legs again and took his length in his mouth just as he started pushing his finger inside. Niall gasped at the intrusion but it wasn’t that bad because it wasn’t that much of a stretch yet. Liam stopped moving it when the whole finger was inside and waited until he felt Niall was relaxed to start moving it while he kept sucking him.

“Another?” he asked the blond some time after and he nodded.

Liam pressed another finger slowly, stopping halfway when he heard the other boy hissing. “Tell me if you want me to stop, okay?”

“No, no. Keep going.” Niall told him, so Liam did. He pressed what was left of his finger and waited for Niall to nod at him as a signal to keep going. His other hand pumping the blond lazily. He started moving his fingers in and out slowly, so Niall could get used to the feeling and after a couple of minutes, the look of discomfort on the blond’s face was gone and the hisses and yelps were now gasps, so he sped his movements a little and curled his fingers inside, searching for that spot. It didn’t take him long to find it.

“ _Ooh shit_ \- what was- what was that? Do that again” Niall told him, his back falling to the bed from his previous position.

Liam chuckled but smiled to himself, “that’s your prostate, told you you’d like it.”

His fingers started moving in and out at a faster pace and suddenly Niall felt another finger pushing in, well that was really a stretch but it was just a minute until he felt those fingers brushing that spot inside him that was making him feel so good.

“Liam, _fuck_ , touch me” Niall said in between moans.

Liam wrapped his other hand around Niall’s cock and started tugging at the same pace that his fingers were moving.

“Li- Liam, I’m gonna cum” Niall said, his back arching.

“Okay, baby, come for me” Liam said and gave a particular hard thrust with his finger and then Niall was coming with a cry of ‘ _fuckfuckLiamfuck’_  , his legs shaking as Liam kept moving both of his hands until Niall ride out his orgasm and then pulled his fingers out.

“Jesus, that was- amazing” Niall said panting, “and fucking intense.”

“Mhm,” Liam said and moved on top of him to kiss him.

“Your turn then” the blond smirked and rolled them over so he was now on top of Liam.

Niall wasn’t one to tease as he was impatient as fuck and more now that he could feel Liam hard against him, so he just went down on him with no preamble. He took the base of Liam’s cock with his hand and the head in his mouth before starting to bob his head up and down and after a couple of minutes he used his other hand to massage his balls for a second before going lower. His finger circled Liam’s hole and felt it clench and then he stopped what he was doing to talk, “do you want me to?”

“Yeah” Liam said, eyes closed and spreading his legs further.

“You sure? We don’t have to.”

“It’s okay, I trust you” the older boy said opening his eyes and sitting a bit, “just… I haven’t done this in a while, so go slow, yeah?”

“I promise,” Niall told him with a smile and moved to place a kiss on his lips, “I’ll make you feel good, babe” he said and Liam nodded before lying back down.

Niall took the small bottle of lube and put some in his hand and got sure they were wet enough so he wouldn’t hurt Liam. He placed his hand back to where it was and circled the area again before starting pushing a finger inside very slowly. He didn’t stop though, he just went with it until it was fully inside and felt Liam’s muscle clench around it. He waited until it stopped so he could start moving it and when he did, Liam let out a small hiss but he didn’t let that discourage him, so he just kept going until he could move his finger in and out without any problems.

“More” Liam said with a gasp.

Niall nodded and pressed another finger inside in the same way, slowly but not stopping until it was all inside. He could see how Liam’s jaw clenched and his eyes were shut, so he put his other hand around the older boy’s cock and started moving it up and down to generate some kind of distraction from the pain until he felt Liam relaxed around him and his face wasn’t one of pain anymore.

“Move them” Liam ordered, and Niall did, he started moving his fingers in and out, like tasting the waters and after some time, Liam started to move as if wanting to find the right angle.

“Ni, you need to-“ he cut himself with an uncomfortable face.

“What, Li? Tell me what you need.”

“You need to- to curl them a bit.”

Niall did, he curled his finger inside, “like this?” he asked and suddenly a moan fell from Liam’s lips.

“Yeah, like that” he said, his breathing starting to go heavier and quicker.

Niall kept curling his fingers inside and pumping his boyfriend’s cock at the same time.

“You look so hot like this, Li” Niall said.

“Fuck, Ni, I’m close” was Liam’s answer so the blond sped up his hand around Liam’s cock and curled his fingers a little more and then Liam was coming all over himself, shot after shot of white spurt on his chest.

Liam’s breathing was heavy when Niall took his fingers out, “was that any good?” he asked.

Liam chuckled and pointed at the cum on his chest and abs, “what do you think?” he said between pants as he turned to look at Niall. “Jesus, Ni, you’re hard again.”

Niall blushed, “well, yeah, you should’ve seen yourself there, you were so good.”

Liam smiled, “just give a minute, alright?” and Niall nodded.

After that, when Liam was hard again, he kissed the blond and just placed himself on top of Niall’s body and started grinding their bodies together until they came together once more.

_‘One step closer to proper sex’_ Niall thought, he couldn’t wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that was chapter seven, hopefully it makes sense.   
> Fluff will be back next chapter, yaaaay!   
> Please let me know what you think! (: x


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Merry Christmas, Ni”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me like three weeks to write this chapter, who knows why.  
> warning: a lot of fluff you might puke rainbows (or at least I think there's too much fluff here), anyways, hope you like this chapter!

Christmas was two days away and these past few days had been hell.

“Liam I can’t find any of my things!”

“That’s because you’re so messy, I told you to let me pack your things!”

Niall let out a frustrated sigh and went back to looking for whatever he was looking for, he just couldn’t remember anymore because one minute he was looking for something but then he remember he couldn’t use it unless he had some other things that didn’t remember where he put it either and fuck, he hated packing with a burning passion, he should have let Liam made his bags.

“Okay, so we’re leaving in about an hour, do you have anything ready?”

“I think I do, yes” Niall said, but the most important thing was Liam’s present, it was the only thing he remembered where it was but he checked again nevertheless.

“Do you want to go out and eat anything before we go? So we don’t have to wash anything here” Liam said.

“Yeah, let’s go get something to eat then.”

They headed out with all their bags and decided to go to this little restaurant near the bus station. It was midday and the distance to Wolverhampton wasn’t that long so a few hours and they’ll be there already. Niall couldn’t stop thinking about what everyone was going to think about him, or worse, what they were going to tell Liam. Hopefully they’ll be good things and Liam’s family will accept him, he already talked to his mother, he was a lovely woman, but it wasn’t her who he was worried about, it was Liam’s dad, he’s never seen him either spoke to him. Liam told him his dad already knew he was into guys even thought this was the first time he was in a real relationship with one but that his father was not a homophobic so he had nothing to worry about. But after everything he’s been through, he couldn’t stop worrying about it.

The car ride from their flat to the restaurant wasn’t long but Niall was too absorbed in his own thoughts, he barely noticed the taxi stopped so he could get out.

Liam took the blond’s hand in his as they walked in the place and sat in a table in the back.

“You okay there, Ni? You look worried and you’re very quiet.”

“I’m okay, just… I’m nervous.”

Liam smiled at him and took his hand on his and gave it a little squeeze, “I told you already, there’s nothing you should worry about, everyone will love you as much as I do, I promise.”

Niall sighed, “I know but still, I just can’t help but feel this weird feeling inside myself, you know? Like I’m going to fuck up one way or another.”

“You’re not going to fuck up anything, you’ll be perfect. As always.”

Niall smiled at him and whispered, “thank you, I love you, Li.”

“Love you too, Ni” he smiled too, “are you ready to order some food then?”

So they ordered some chicken and fries and Liam ordered a coke for him and a beer for Niall. They ate in peace while Liam told Niall about all the places he wanted to take him when they were in Wolverhamptom even thought it wasn’t as big as London.

Soon enough, it was time for them to leave so they paid for their meals and headed to the bus station and after all the checking with the bags and stuff, they were already inside the bus.

“Liam, I’m nervous” Niall stated and hid his face in the crook of Liam’s neck, who threw his arms around the blond arms.

“I told you, Ni, you don’t need to worry. Why don’t you try to sleep now so you don’t think about it much, yeah?”

“Yeah… I’ll try.”

“Alright, I’ll wake you up when we get there” Liam said and went to remove his arm but Niall stopped him.

“No. Hold me?”

Liam chuckled, “of course, baby” and wrapped his arms stronger around him. They were sitting at the back of the bus so they didn’t have to worry about anyone looking at them. “I’ll wake you up when we’re there,” he said and placed a kiss at the top of the blond’s hair.

“Okay, thanks, Li” and then he snuggled close to his boyfriend.

*

“Ni, Ni, baby, wake up” Liam whispered and shook the blond’s shoulders.

“hmalskdf” Niall groaned and moved closer to the other boy.

Liam chuckled, “come on, Ni, we’re here, we need to get off the bus.”

Niall opened his eyes immediately and felt the nervousness hitting him but stood up anyways.

Once they were off the bus and had their bags with them, Liam said they were going to take a cab home because his parents couldn’t go to pick them up.

They took a taxi and Liam told the driver his address. It wasn’t a long ride and Liam held Niall’s hand in his the whole time. Niall would like to say that it made him feel better but the truth was that he was ready to throw up because of how nervous he was. And he didn’t even know why, Liam has told him a million times already that his family was okay with him and that they accepted him even knowing his life story. But he just couldn’t help but feel that they’ll think he was not enough for his son and Liam would end up leaving him. And he couldn’t help that.

Liam could sense how tense Niall was, but the taxi was not the right place or moment to ask, so he waited till they got off the car after Liam had paid the driver who dropped them on the corner of his street.

“So… where to now?” Niall asked, bag in hand.

“No, wait” Liam told him and Niall looked at him confused, “what’s bothering you so much?”

“I- what do you mean?”

“You’re nervous and you’re all tense, I can feel it, I told you, everything’s gonna be more than alright, Ni, so what’s going on inside your head? Tell me?” Liam said sweetly.

Niall let out a long sigh, “I just- I know you told me they don’t care about what I’ve been through and that they accept me already, but somehow- I just don’t know, I just can’t help but think that once they know me they are going to think I’m not enough for you and that you’re going to break up with me and you’ll leave and I can’t-“ he said with watery eyes and swallowing the lump in his throat, “I don’t know if I can do that, Liam. I can’t do this, I’m sorry” he ended with a voice so low it was almost a whisper.

“That’s just- I- come with me” Liam ordered and took the blond’s hand and started to walk.

“Where- where are we going?” he asked while trying to compose himself.

“Just come with me.”

They walked two blocks until they found a small park and Liam sat on a bench, patting the space next to him so Niall would sit. Luckily, there were not a lot of people there, just some couples but Liam made sure they were far away enough from them so they could talk.

“I used to come here when I needed to think,” Liam started, “it’s peaceful.”

Niall didn’t say anything, just took in the surroundings. It was a beautiful place, even though it was winter and it was really cold to be there, but the snow on top of the trees and resting on the ground made it beautiful.

“You know, Ni, I get it, that you’re nervous about this whole thing. And maybe I shouldn’t have pressured you to come here with me, maybe this is still too new,” Liam said, Niall turned his head to him with wide eyes, was he going to say he regretted all? “But somehow, there’s- there’s something about us, I can’t quite place a finger on what is it, but something about us feels so right, so natural, like this has been going on forever, as if we were, and we are supposed to be like this,” he paused and frowned in concentration and Niall just kept looking at him, like if he opened his mouth, the magic would break, “I don’t know if there’s anything I can say to you that would make you feel calmer or better, maybe you need to feel nervous, maybe you need to be afraid of my parents, of what’s going to happen, but I don’t want you to think that I regret anything I’ve done for you. I don’t know if you can tell how I feel about you but I can’t find the words to explain it either, but never, you hear me? I’m never going to leave you, alright? It doesn’t matter if my parents do not agree with my choice of who I want to spend my life with, I’d rather have you, okay?” he said and brought his hand to touch Niall’s face, who was now on the verge of breaking. How could this boy be so perfect?

“You’re beautiful,” Liam said with soft voice and there was a look of pure adoration and love in his eyes, Niall felt so full, so complete, he was about to burst into tears, but instead he opted for leaning closer and hid his face in Liam’s neck, who threw his arm around his shoulders.

“Thanks, Li” he said, voice hoarse, “I think I needed to hear that” a small tear running down his face which was caught by Liam’s thumb.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah, I feel better… but can we please stay here for a moment until I’m not a mess of wanting to cry because of my boyfriend’s cuteness?”

Liam chuckled, “of course we can.”

They just stayed there for who knows how much time just talking, Liam told Niall that park was kind of his safe place when he was back in high school and that’s the reason he brought him there when suddenly, Liam’s phone started vibrating in his pocket. He let go of the blond to took it out and saw it was his mother.

“Shit” he murmured but answered anyways, “hello?”

“LIAM JAMES, WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HOME LIKE AN HOUR AGO!”

Liam had to distance the phone from his ear and Niall chuckled, “yes, mum, I’m fine, we had kind of a… last minute issue, it’s all solved though, we’ll be home in a few minutes, okay?”

“Okay, hurry up!” she said and hung up.

Liam let out a sigh, “Okay, I think it’s time to head home. You ready?”

Niall smiled, “more than ready.”

They walked the two blocks again hand in hand and once they were in front of Liam’s house, Niall’s eyes went wide.

“Jesus, this is fucking big!”

“Well, my parents have always liked big houses so they bought their own?”

Niall laughed, “I guess.”

Liam kissed him and when he pulled away he looked at Niall straight in the eyes as if asking if he was ready. Niall smiled, “let’s go inside then.”

Liam placed his key and opened the door and then closed it when they were both inside.

“Hello?” Liam said almost yelling.

A woman came running down the stairs and almost tackled Liam to the floor, “Liaaaaam!”

Liam laughed and let Niall’s hand go to hug her, “hey Ruth!”

“Aw, Liam, I’m so happy to see you, you look great, bro!” she said letting him go, then turned to Niall, “you must be Niall” and offered him a big smile.

“I am” he smiled back, “nice to meet you.”

“Awe, he’s irish!” she said looking at Liam, “nice to meet you too, Niall” she said to Niall and gave him some kind of one armed hug.

“Where’s everyone?” Liam asked.

“Oh, Nicki is upstairs, she’s having a shower, I think. Dad’s in the garage as always, you know him,” she rolled her eyes and laughed, “and mum should be in the kitchen, I don’t know why she’s not here yet-“

“I SWEAR TO GOD, IF LIAM DO-“ his mother came out of the kitchen and cut herself when she saw Liam, “LIAM!”

“Hi mum!” he said and went to hug his mother.

“I missed you so much!” she said squeezing him.

“Mum, I can’t breathe!” he complained.

She laughed and let him go, “sorry.”

Niall looked at the exchange and smiled at them, he wished his family was like that.

Liam’s mother cleared his throat, “so, Liam… are you not going to introduce us?” she said smiling.

Liam rolled his eyes and smiled at his mum, “okay. Mum, this is Niall,” she said pointing to him, “Niall, this is my lovely mother” and then gestured with his hands at his mother.

Niall took a step forward, “hi Ms. Payne” he said and offered his hand.

“Oh, come on, we don’t need formalities!” she said and hugged him which made Niall smile, “and you don’t need to call me like that, just call me Karen, okay?”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Now,” she started, “I’ve already prepared everything upstairs in your room, Liam, I even moved things inside your wardrobe so Niall could fit his things there if he want.”

Liam rolled his eyes and shook his head and Niall laughed, “alright mum. Let’s go upstairs, Ni, come on.”

They took their bags and started their way to Liam’s bedroom.

“Come down again where you have all settled, I’ll go call your dad, alright?”

“Okay, mum, see you in a few.”

They walked through the corridor, Liam’s bedroom was on the last door, but as they were walking, another woman appeared halfway.

“Oh my God, Liam!” she said and hugged him, “I missed you little bro!”

Liam laughed and wrapped his arms around his sister, “missed you too, Nicki!” he said and then let go, “how’s life?”

“Meh, pretty boring, you know this town” she said laughing. “Now, you’re Niall, right?” she turned to the blond boy, “it’s so good to meet you, our mum hasn’t stopped talking about you” she said laughing.

Niall blushed at her words.

“Oh don’t worry, nothing to be embarrassed about, all good things” she smiled at him.

“Thank God” he laughed.

“Okay, I’ll go downstairs, go leave all your bags in your room and I’ll meet you for dinner then!” she said and walked past them to the stairs.

“Your family is lovely, Liam, I already like them.”

“See? I told them they’ll love you!” Liam said as he opened the door to his room. Nothing had changed there. His double bed with a tv in front of it with a DVD and his Xbox lying there. A sofa to the side and a bookshelf to the other side.

“So, uhm… I can sleep on the couch if you want” Niall said.

Liam frowned in confusion, “why would you sleep on the sofa when you can sleep on the bed?”

“It’s just, we sleep in separate rooms back home and I thought that maybe you didn’t want me to sleep with you here?”

“Oh, Ni” he started and walked over where Niall was standing, “it’s nothing personal, I just felt like it was the right thing to do, like, I thought it would be uncomfortable to sleep together or something when it was all so new, but I’m not going to make you sleep on a couch! You’re sleeping with me, I don’t really care, it’s not like we haven’t done it before” he ended with a shrug.

Niall smiled at him, “okay, Li, thanks.”

“No worries” Liam smiled back and kissed him on the cheek. “Oh, I hope you’re ready for almost two weeks of sleeping together but no touching because family” he laughed.

Niall groaned in response, “I haven’t thought about that, Jesus, this is going to be hard. We’ll find a way… right?”

Liam chuckled, “I hope so.”

And after they put everything in place in Liam’s room, they went downstairs again. Liam’s family was sitting together while talking and laughing in the kitchen when they entered.

“Oh, you’re back guys!” Karen said, “come sit with us, dinner will be ready in a few.”

They sat down and Liam’s dad look at Niall for a minute, then smiled at him, “nice to meet you son, I’m Geoff” he said, sticking his hand out for Niall to shake.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” he said back, shaking his hand and smiling back.

The rest of the time was spent chatting, or actually, Liam’s family wanting to know about Niall but none of them had really asked about these past few years and Niall was very thankful. Then dinner was ready and the meal was delicious, so Niall of course told Karen and then Liam told his family Niall was great at cooking and that he wanted to be a chef, so obviously Karen told him they were cooking together some time, or the day after for Christmas dinner.

After dinner was done and the boys excused theirselves so they could go to bed because they had a long day and they were tired from the trip and all, they went back to Liam’s room. They stripped down to their boxers and got into bed and Liam turned the TV on.

“You were right, your family is amazing, Li, I don’t know why I was so worried.”

“It’s only a natural thing to feel I guess” he shrugged, “I’m happy you get on so well with them.”

Then Niall turned his whole body to the side so he was facing Liam and looked at him.

“What?” Liam asked.

“Nothing,” Niall answered, “thanks for bringing me here. Thanks for sharing your family and your house with me even though we’ve known each other for a short time, Liam” he said, his eyes shining with love.

“Thanks for being this amazing, cute boy” Liam said turning so he was now facing Niall and smiling.

“No- no, you don’t get it, Liam. I really mean it, just- we’ve known each other for what? Less than six months? And you’ve brought me into your life, not only you gave me food and a place to sleep, you brought me here, to your family, to your hometown, to your life and it’s such a big change for me, from living back on the streets for so long and then-“ he cut himself to stop a sob to came out, his eyes starting to get watery and Liam took his hand in his but didn’t say anything, “then you came around and it’s like it never happened, like I have a life back, a place to go when I feel alone, you’re like home to me, Liam, and that means everything, that’s everything I could’ve ever asked for.”

“That’s just- wow,” Liam said, stopping a tear on Niall’s face with his hand, “but your underestimating yourself, you make it sound like I’ve done everything in this relationship when-“

“Because you did.”

“Shush you, it’s my turn to speak,” Liam said, making Niall smile, “but really, you’re even more amazing. You’re this cute, funny boy to be around, you’re smart, you can cook, you can play guitar, you’re so good at expressing yourself but so shy at the same time and you always have this happy aura around you that makes people want to stick around, and I was never like that, I’ve always been this quiet boy nobody really knew or liked because I worried to much about everything and then boom, you appeared in my life and suddenly I am another person, you changed me in a so many aspects that there are some things about my old me I can’t even remember anymore, and for good.”

Niall was smiling big at him, bright blue eyes shining and a light blush in his cheeks and neck. He placed a kiss on Liam’s lips and wrapped his arms around him while snuggling close.

Liam wrapped his arms around the younger boy too and held him close, “I don’t know if I ever told you but did you know that when I saw you for the first time ever it was like love at first sight?” He asked, blushing. Good thing that Niall’s face was on his neck and couldn’t see him. But oh, he just lifted his head to look at him.

“Really?” he said, “I’m not sure when was the first time you saw me but I sure looked like shit.”

“You never look like shit, you’re too beautiful” Liam whispered.

Niall blushed again before kissing the older boy on the lips. It was a sweet but full of passion kiss, no words were needed anymore.

*

The next morning when they were out of bed and already showered, they went downstairs to have some breakfast when,

“Liam!”

“Ugh, it’s still too early for this.”

“I missed you too mate, nice to see you” Harry rolled his eyes. “I’ll talk to Niall, he’s sure as hell a lot cooler than you” he said sticking his tongue out at Liam and turning to Niall, “it’s great to finally meet you, mate!” he said and went to hug the blond.

Niall was still in this sleepy state where he didn’t understand what was going on and looked at Liam with an _‘I don’t know what’s going on?’_ look but hugged Harry back nevertheless.

“It’s nice to meet you too, I guess?” Niall laughed.

So after that they had breakfast together and luckily Niall and Harry clicked very quick and soon they were laughing at each other comments and Harry’s bad jokes.

They spent most of the day together until past lunch that Harry had to go back home for Christmas preparations and the Payne’s family was ready to start with their own too.

Niall had helped Karen to prepare the food, chicken and quite different types of salads with a lot of tasty seasonings. And then for dessert some thing with a lot chocolate that everyone was going to love.

When it was time to sit down on the table and have dinner, they were all wearing some fancy clothes, not dressed up for like, some kind of party, but some pretty clothes because they liked to looked good for Christmas.

Everyone flattered Niall and Karen on their food and ate happily while remembering some old Christmas and Liam’s parents told anecdotes of when Liam and his sisters where kids, putting them to shame, of course, but they ended up laughing anyways because those were good times.

By the time dessert came around they were all full of food but couldn’t resist the looks of it and when Karen told them it was something Niall suggested and made it almost all by himself, they all wanted to try it. Everyone said it was delicious and that Niall would be an amazing chef one day, which made him blush but thanked them.

And after that the night was spent talking and listening to music and drinking beer and wine until everyone except Karen and Geoff were kind of tipsy.

Niall couldn’t stop laughing at whatever it was they were talking about and at one point he had this completely lucid moment where he thought it was not a good idea to let Liam’s parent see him like that but they didn’t seem to bother so he just stayed in his happy little bubble. Really, Niall couldn’t be any happier then, surrounded by people that liked him and accepted him and his amazing boyfriend. He made a mental note to thank God later for how his life has turned around in such a short period of time.

“Liiiii, can we open our presents now?” Niall asked at one point.

“We don’t really open our presents until the next morning, sorry gorgeous” Liam said smiling down at him, because Niall was lying on the sofa with his head in Liam’s lap, so the older boy lowered his head to place a small kiss on his lips and everyone went “aww” for a moment. Niall blushed but smiled at his boyfriend.

After midnight, when they were already in bed and ready to sleep, Niall made his Christmas wish in silence. It was some kind of tradition to him. These past two years his wish was to have a life back, maybe it wasn’t because of his wish but he had a life again, and a good one. But this year, his wish was that Liam and him made it together through everything, that no matter what, they’ll always stay together. And after that, he fell asleep with Liam’s arms around his waist, his breath on his neck and sound of silent snores.

*

The next morning Niall woke up due to Liam kissing his right shoulder. He opened his eyes and stirred a little.

“Mmm, morning, Li” he said and turned to be face to face with the brown haired boy.

“Morning, babe,” he said and Niall kissed him but Liam pulled away quickly which made Niall pout and Liam chuckle, “sorry, morning breath.”

Niall laughed and they both got up to brush their teeth.

“Can I have a proper kiss now?” the blond asked once they were done with the brushing.

Liam of course nodded and kissed Niall.

“Merry Christmas, Ni,” Liam told him and smiled, “your present should be downstairs already.”

Niall smiled like a little kid, “can we go get it then, please?”

Liam laughed, “sure, let’s go then.”

Niall then remembered about his present and took Liam by the wrist when he started to walk, “uhm… can we get here again after that? Your presents kind of… personal so… yeah…”

Liam’s eyebrows frowned in confusion, what did the blond get him? “Alright?” he said more as a question.

They went downstairs and just for their luck, no one was there yet, apparently Liam’s parents were out and his sisters were still sleeping, it was still kind of early now that he thought about it.

When they entered the living room and Niall saw what was lying next to the Christmas tree, he stood dead in his tracks and his eyes went wide, “is that- is that for me?” he asked Liam.

Liam smiled big and nodded his head.

Niall didn’t know if he wanted to run and open his present or tackle Liam and kiss the life out of him. Seeing that Niall was still standing there, Liam decided to talk first,

“Go on then, Ni, take it!” he said and pushed him from behind a little.

Niall walked a few steps and took the case in his hands and opened it to take a guitar out. It was beautiful, he couldn’t believe Liam had actually bought him a guitar.

“This is- wow, Liam, it’s beautiful, this is amazing, just- thank you so so so much!” he said standing up to wrap his arms around Liam’s neck to kiss him.

“Can I have my present now?” Liam asked once they had pulled apart.

“Uhm, yeah, of course, but now that you gave me this I feel so insignificant.”

“I’m sure it’s perfect. Can I see it? Please?” Liam said pouting like a little boy.

“Alright, it’s upstairs though, let’s go” Niall said and took the guitar and took it with them to Liam’s room.

They entered the room and Niall closed it behind them and Liam stood there while Niall went to look inside one of his bags until he came to stand in front of Liam with his arms behind his back.

“So, uhm… I bought you this” Niall said and placed the little velvet box in front of him for Liam to take.

The older boy raised an eyebrow and took the box in his hands and opened it. It was a simple silver strap with an engraved badge. He frowned when he saw the engraving and Niall smiled.

“How is it pronounced? And what does it mean?” Liam looked at Niall with a confused face.

“ _’Tá grá agam duit’_ ,” he said perfectly, “and it means ‘I love you’ in irish” he ended with a light blush appearing in his cheeks.

Liam looked down to the strap perfectly put in the box and then up to Niall’s eyes, “I… this is perfect, Niall,” he whispered, “I love you so much” and he leaned his head to give the blond a sweet kiss. “But… how did you pay for this?”

“I uhm…” Niall started and scratched his neck, “I might have kept the change from some money you gave me to buy things and yeah, all that stuff…” he blushed, “I promise I didn’t steal anything from you!”

Liam laughed and hugged Niall tight, “I never thought you did,” he said, “it’s so pretty, Niall, almost as much as you, I love it.”

Niall couldn’t help but blush even harder but smiled at the boy’s words.

“Help me put it on?” Liam asked, taking the silver strap out of the box while examining it. He couldn’t stop looking at it, it was so simple but so precious, and it meant so much. He turned it around and discovered there was a little infinite symbol on the other side of the words, he smiled when he saw it.

“That means I’ll love you forever, and that I, at least plan to, stay with you forever” Niall whispered.

Liam looked at the blond and he just felt so loved, he felt his heart was about to explode. He wanted to cry but swallowed the lump in his throat and a sort of choking sound came out of his mouth. “Is it too gay if I cry?” he asked with watery eyes but a little laugh.

Niall chuckled, “you can cry but only if it is because you’re happy” he said wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck and kissing his cheek.

Liam let a tear fall down his face and Niall cleaned it with another kiss. “You’re perfect, Ni, how did I get so lucky to get you to love me?” he whispered in Niall’s ear while he hugged him tight.

“I ask myself the same question every day, Li, every day” he answered with a smile on his face.

They pulled apart and Niall took the strap from the box and placed it around Liam’s wrist, both of the boys with matching smiles on their faces. Liam leaned in to kiss the blond but their moment was cut by a knock on the door.

“Are you boys up already?” Liam’s mum asked, opening the door and stepping inside the room. The boys pulled apart suddenly and she chuckled, “sorry, didn’t mean to ruin your moment” she smiled.

“It’s alright mum. Do you need anything?”

“Oh, nothing, just wanted to give you your presents. Have you given each other your own?”

“Yeah, we did.” Liam said and smiled at Niall, which reminded the blond of Liam’s amazing present.

“I can’t believe you bought me a guitar, this is so awesome!” Niall said hugging Liam’s middle and the older boy laughed and threw his arms around this boyfriend’s shoulders, sometimes he was a kid.

Liam’s mum smiled at the image in front of her, “I couldn’t believe either when it got here” she laughed. “Come on, boys, come downstairs to see your presents.”

They did, when they got to the living room, there were quite a few boxes with Niall’s name on them.

“Oh my God… all of these are for me?”

“If you’re Niall just as the boxes say, then yes” Karen laughed.

Niall started to unwrap the boxes and his face almost split into two when he saw all the kitchen utensils, “oh God, this is so great!” he exclaimed, taking spatulas and mixers and bowls out of the box, “but I thought you didn’t know I like cooking?”

“Oh, we did, Liam told us some time ago,” Liam’s father explained, who had entered the room some seconds ago just to take on the image of Niall opening his presents. “There’s one more, go on, open it.”

Niall did and his eyes went wide, “A BLENDER?!” wow, so this might actually be his favorite Christmas so far, “thank you guys so much, this is- wow, I can’t even explain it, you didn’t have to buy all of these for me!”

“Well, while we might not know you that much or for a long time, we can already tell you deserve it” Karen smiled, “plus, Liam’s useless in the kitchen, might as well buy all of these for you” she laughed.

“Come on, Liam,” his father said, “your present’s outside.”

Liam frowned but stood up and went outside to see what was his pr- “WHAT THE FUCK?!” came as a yell from outside the front door. Karen and Geoff look at each other with smiles on their faces and Niall looked at them confused, so he decided to go out to see what was going on.

As he walked outside the door, he started talking, “Liam, what- oh my God” he said with wide eyes.

A new, shining black car was parked outside their house, a big red lace around it.

Liam’s parents appeared behind them and his father put a hand on Liam’s shoulder to turn him around and put a key in his hands. “You earned it, son. Just be careful, alright?”

Liam just couldn’t believe it, “thank you so much, dad, I- I don’t even know what to say!”

“Don’t say anything then, just go!”

Liam then took Niall’s hand and ran towards the car, tearing up the lace and pressing the key button to open the doors. They got inside the car, Liam in the driver’s seat and Niall next to him and looked around.

“Wow, this is completely awesome!” Liam exclaimed.

“Your parents are so rad, Liam, I wish they were mine.”

“Ew, no, if they were your parents too then this would be incest!” Liam said faking a disgusted and terrified face making the blond burst out laughing.

The rest of the day was spent with Liam trying his new car around the city and took advantage of that to take Niall to a lot of places he wanted to show him.

They were back at his house by dinner time and they had a peaceful meal while Liam told his family everywhere he’s been with Niall during the day and how many memories it brought him.

*

The rest of the week was spent between lots of food and jokes and going out with Harry.

Even New Year’s night was amazing, there was this big party in the center of the city where the whole family went every year and of course, they took Niall with them this time. There were lots of people everywhere, and loud music and food, and alcohol but both boys tried not drink too much cause they weren’t sure where it would get them and they weren’t alone, if you know what they mean.

The rest of the night was fun, they had a nice night with family and some friends they bumped into during the night and Niall got to meet Andy, one of Liam’s best friends since childhood. He was nice to Niall and thanked him for making his friend happy, which had Liam blushing a little but Niall took the compliment, if you could call it like that, anyway.

Unfortunately for them, the end of the evening, wasn’t that good. Of course Liam had to bump into someone who wasn’t too fond of his person when he was about ready to head home.

“Oooh, look what we have here!” Liam heard someone say behind his back and he felt his body tense at that voice, “isn’t it Liam fag Payne, and look! He’s got himself a little boyfriend, aw, how cute!”

Niall frowned at what the voice said and Liam turned around with an angry face, even though Niall could still see a bit of pain hiding in his eyes.

“Leave us alone” Liam said almost with a groan.

“Aw, you’re hurting me, Liam! We had such a good time back in school, don’t you want to introduce me to your friend?”

“If you call beating the shit out of me fun,” he said with a bitter voice, “and no, thank you, I think I’ll pass.”

The other guy’s face turned into one of annoyance and grabbed Liam by the collar of his shirt, “listen, you little fag, you won’t talk to me like that, you understand?”

Liam never took his eyes away from his and when he was done talking he pushed him until he was against the wall and he was now grabbing him by his shirt, “no, you listen to me, leave us alone, I’ve already had enough of you and I’m not that boy anymore so I won’t tolerate any of your stupid comments, so if you ever bother me or him or get near us, I swear, I’m going to-“

“Enough” Niall cut him before he could finish by grabbing his arm, “let him go, Liam, let’s go.”

Liam turned to look at Niall and the grip on the other guy’s shirt loosened and then the guy was pushing Liam away and smirking, “oh, look at Payne doing what his bitch tells him to-“

And suddenly Liam’s fist was collapsing against the guy’s nose, “shut up!”

Niall’s eyes went wide, he didn’t know Liam was that close to snapping, he didn’t know what to do so he took his boyfriend by the arm, “stop,” he said, “let’s go.” He approached the guy and took a tissue he had in his pocket and handed it to the guy whose nose was now bleeding and he almost ripped it out from Niall’s hand.

“You should learn some manners from your boyfriend, Payne.”

Liam was about to get close to him but Niall stopped him by putting a hand on his chest and looked sternly at him. Liam stopped, and then Niall turned to the guy again.

“Listen, mate, whatever the fuck this was, then I don’t want it to happen again, alright? So let’s just ignore each other if we ever see again so none of this happens again” he said pointing at his bleeding nose, “now go home and have your nose checked or something.” And then turned to grab Liam by his hand and walked away.

*

By the time they arrived at Liam’s house again, the older boy entered the living room and then stormed upstairs, shutting the door with a loud thump.

Niall who walked behind Liam mostly all the way, maybe trying to call him, a soft “Li” or “Liam, please” but the older boy didn’t stop walking until he got home.

When Liam’s mother heard the loud thump of Liam’s room and came out of the kitchen to see what was going on and found Niall shutting the front door closed.

“What happened? Did you boys have a fight?” she asked the blond.

“No, we… we met some unfortunate person on the way back home.”

Karen’s eyes went wide, “did something happen? Is he alright?” she asked nervously.

“He’s alright, I think he broke the other guy’s nose though” he chuckled and Liam’s mum let out a breath she was holding. “I’ll go talk to him, alright? I’ll come back and tell you in a few.”

“Alright. Thanks Niall.”

Niall gave a short nod and headed upstairs. When he got to the door of Liam’s room he knocked on it softly but got no answer, so he just went inside as the door wasn’t locked. He walked towards the bed were Liam was sitting with his elbows on his thighs and his hands pressing his eyes. The blond sat next to him and put his hand on Liam’s back and the older boy flinched away.

“Don’t touch me” he said, but he didn’t sound harsh, or sad, or angry, it was… emotionless.

Niall took his hand away, “sorry” he said looking down, “I’ll just stay here so you can talk whenever you’re ready” he added with a soft voice.

Liam didn’t say anything for a minute until he let out a sigh and lifted his head but didn’t look at Niall yet, “I’m disgusting” he said with a pinch of anger in his voice.

“I’m sorry?” Niall asked, frowning.

“What you’ve heard, I’m disgusting.”

“And that’d be because…” Niall left the sentence incomplete for Liam to fill him in whatever it was he was missing here.

“Cause I completely lost it there, I promised myself I’d never let that happen, that I wouldn’t let them get me, that they wouldn’t _win_ ,” he said and his hands that were lying on his thighs turned into fists, then turned to look at Niall, “I know you hate fighting, Niall, you think it’s terrible and pointless, I’m sorry, don’t hate me, please.” He said almost whispering the last part while he looked down and shut his eyes.

Niall smiled sweetly at his boyfriend and moved closer, “Liam, look at me” he said softly and Liam lifted his face slowly to find Niall’s face a few inches away from his, his blue eyes bright as ever, “listen, I don’t care about what happened there, and you shouldn’t either, you needed to get it out of your system, I get it, it’s done and there’s nothing to undone it now, so let’s not worry about that. I could never hate you even if I tried, Liam, you mean the world to me.”

“Thanks, Ni” Liam said, smiling sheepishly and Niall kissed him on the lips.

“Now, how about a shower?” Niall suggested.

“Ni, I don’t think we should-“

“Shh,” Niall cut him with a kiss, “we’ll be quiet, alright?” Liam nodded. “I’ll go downstairs quickly to let your mum know you’re alright, you go prepare the shower.” He added and Liam nodded.

He went downstairs and found Karen on the kitchen drinking some tea.

“Hey,” he said softly because she seemed to be too into her world, she looked up and smiled at Niall.

“Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Yes, everything’s fine. He’ll go take a shower now.”

Liam’s mum knew what that meant so she chose not to intrude, “alright then, I’ll talk to him tomorrow. I’ll go to bed now, thanks for letting me know, Niall.”

“No problem” he flashed her a smile and went upstairs, where Liam was already inside the shower waiting for him. It’s been so long since they’d done something remotely sexual they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. And if they shower was maybe a little longer than it should’ve been, and someone had heard something, then no one ever said anything about it.

*

Two days after New Year, the boys were already packed and getting inside Liam’s new car, ready to head back home. They said goodbye to Liam’s family and Harry who was there to say goodbye too, even though he was moving to London a week later.

The car ride home was peaceful, with the radio playing in the background and maybe one of them will turn it up and sing at the top of their lungs (and very off key just to piss the other one) when a song they’ll like came up. They stopped for food and drinks when they where halfway there. And then got back to driving.

When they got home, first thing Niall did was to pin Liam against the just closed door and kissed him like there was not tomorrow.

“Wow, Jesus, I haven’t even noticed I missed you that much” he laughed, pulling away a little.

Liam laughed at the blond and took his bags and started walking through the short corridor to his bedroom. Niall was about to enter the spare room, or his bedroom, when Liam took him by the hand, Niall looked at him confused.

“Move into my room?” Liam said with a short nod to his door.

Niall raised an eyebrow, “really?”

“Yeah, I kind of got used to sleeping with you, so… yeah” Liam finished blushing just a little.

The blond chuckled, “you’re so cute. You’re asking me that as if you’re asking me to move into your house.”

“Well you already live in my house so-“ Niall cut him by putting a hand over his mouth and rolled his eyes.

“Alright, alright then, your bedroom it is.” He smiled pulling his hand away from Liam’s face and he walked inside his now new bedroom, the older boy just behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pukes rainbows* what do you think? was it too much? was it okay? this chapter brought me so much stress omg, I hope it was okay! x  
> (oh, and the 'I love you' thing in irish, I had to look that up, so if it's not correct then I apologize and if you know the right words then let me know and I'll change it!)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "... I’m never, never going to stop loving you, okay? I don’t think I could even if I tried.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gaaaaah, sorry this is too late but I didn't want to wait until tomorrow and leave you hanging (that if someone is even reading this), so, I hope you like this! x

The week after they got back home, it was time for Niall to start school. To say that he was beyond excited was an understatement. He was so hyper about, buying things for school like he was some five year old kid. Liam understood though, it was a big change, he was preparing himself to go back to a normal life and to be someone one day, and he couldn’t be any happier to be the one being right next to Niall for this step in his life.

Liam was going to uni again too. Luckily, Niall went to school during the morning, and he was never at home at that time so he’ll always come back to his blond’s arms whenever he was coming home, from work or uni.

That morning, Niall woke him up earlier than it was necessary.

“Liiiiii. Liaaaam, come on, wake up!” a very excited Niall said with a still sleepy voice and a thick accent while shaking the older boy’s shoulder.

Liam let out a groan and opened one eye too look at the clock on his bedside table, “Niaaall, it’s still too early, let me go back to sleep!”

“I don’t want to be late!”

“It’s five thirty in the morning, you’re not going to be late, go back to sleep!”

“I can’t” Niall whispered with a sad voice and then Liam sighed and turn around to face his boyfriend.

“Come here” Liam said and opened his arms for Niall to snuggle next to him, “what’s bothering you?” he asked, voice still charged with a sleep and eyes closed.

“Nothing’s bothering me, I’m nervous, but happy.”

“Everything’s going to be more than fine, alright? Can we please sleep some more?”

Niall chuckled a little, “okay, Li” he said placing a kiss on the older boy’s neck before falling asleep again.

*

It was 7:15 when Liam popped an eye open and saw the time.

“Ni, wake up!” he said shaking him softly, no response. Niall was a heavy sleeper. “NIALL! WAKE UP, YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE!” he said louder.

The blond boy opened his eyes wide and sat on the bed abruptly, “what’s going on, Liam?”

“It’s a quarter past seven, we slept in, come on now!”

“Jesus, Liam, I told you! Shit, I’m getting a quick shower, can you make breakfast?” he said, maybe with a harsher tone than needed and getting up and walking out of the bedroom to the bathroom.

“Yeah, I’ll do something. And I’m sorry but I didn’t turn the alarm off, I don’t know what happened!”

“Whatever you say, Liam” Niall rolled his eyes and closed the bathroom door.

Liam went to the kitchen and made some coffee and some toasts while he heard the running water from the bathroom. He was sure he hadn’t turned off the alarm, but then again, he was really sleepy when Niall woke him up earlier, so maybe he did and he couldn’t remember?

Niall entered the kitchen in some fresh clothes while drying his hair with a tower just as Liam was putting a mug with coffee, toasts and some butter and jam in the table.

“I’ll go have a quick shower now while you have breakfast” Liam said and moved closer to Niall to give him a kiss but the blond moved away. Liam just stood there and watched him but Niall didn’t look back at him, but instead said,

“Well come on then, Liam, don’t just stay there, go shower!” while he started eating his breakfast.

Liam just sighed and headed to the bathroom and opened the hot water and got in the shower. He hated when he slept in because then it meant he had to shower really quick and he liked to enjoy his morning showers.

He sighed as he got out of the shower and dried himself before going to his room to get changed. 7:35 said the clock. He put his clothes and shoes on and took his back before going into the kitchen again when Niall handed him a mug with coffee without saying anything and exited the door.

He drank it a little too quick maybe because now his tongue was burning. Whatever.

He stepped into the living room as Niall was just out of their room with his bag. Almost 7:45, and Niall needed to be at school at eight. The place wasn’t really that far away but London’s traffic was shit in the mornings.

“Ready to go?” he asked Niall, who gave a nod and opened the door to the flat and went out.

Once they were inside Liam’s car, Niall immediately turned on the radio. Okay, Liam got it, he didn’t want to talk.

The car ride from their flat to Niall’s school was quiet, none of them had said a word.

When Liam parked outside the building, it was 7:57, phew, just in time. Niall went to open the door but Liam stopped him by grabbing his arm and the blond turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m sorry” Liam said with a soft voice, he didn’t have to explain why he said that, Niall knew, but then he added, “no kiss?”

Niall rolled his eyes but leaned in and gave Liam a quick peck on the lips.

“Good luck,” Liam said, “do you want me to pick you up when I’m out of work?” he asked, because their timetables for the mornings where kind of similar.

“Nah, I’ll just meet you for lunch at home.” Niall said and opened the car door and got out.

Liam just threw his head back against his seat and let out a long sigh. Was this really only because they slept in? Because that wasn’t really his fault.

*

Niall knew he had treated Liam like shit but he was grumpy that morning and couldn’t help it. He’ll make it up to him later.

He walked through the hallways of his now new school, looking for his room. Fortunately, it didn’t take him too long, and he entered the room and took a seat in the third row. Most people were older than him, just a few ones seemed to be twenty or in their early twenties, but he didn’t have enough time to look around because a minute later his teacher was walking inside the room.

He had three subjects that day, math, geography and english. He was pretty good at the first two, and well, he could deal with english. But it was weird, the fact of being in school again, he had wanted that so bad though, since he was stuck in London, to finish school and to have the power over his own life to choose a career and to be someone. It was just a matter of time until he felt comfortable again with the fact of studying, something he hadn’t done in a long time.

His classes finished at one o’clock and once he was out of the building, he took a bus and headed home.

Once he opened the door to his and Liam’s flat and saw that the older boy wasn’t there yet and wasn’t going to be for at least half an hour, he decided to make some lunch, at least as a way to say he was sorry for treating Liam so bad in the morning. So he left his bag in the living room and got started in the kitchen.

By the time Liam got home, first thing he noticed was the strong smell of food that hit him.

“Ni?” he asked, closing the door while he left his bag next to the door and headed inside the kitchen.

He found the blond next to the kitchen, serving some plates and humming to some tune, so he approached him slowly because apparently he didn’t hear him when he entered the flat or the kitchen, and stood right behind him but without touching me, he knew how fussy Niall got in the kitchen. So he just leaned a little over his ear and murmured a soft “hello” in his ear that made the blond jump.

“Jesus, Liam! How long how you been there?”

“Just a second actually, didn’t want to scare you, sorry.”

“You didn’t” he smiled, “now, where’s my hello kiss?” he said with a cute frown and pouting.

Liam chuckled and leaned in but gave Niall a kiss on the cheek.

“Liaaam!” Niall whined but laughed making Liam laugh too and leaned in again but this time gave him an actual kiss on the lips.

“Sorry,” Liam stated, “I just thought you might be upset with me still.”

Niall sighed, “I’m sorry about that, I don’t know what came into me, I was just in a bad mood I guess and took it out on you, I shouldn’t have, I’m sorry, Li.” He said.

“Don’t worry, Ni.” Liam smiled at him and the blond smiled back.

“Let’s get to eat, then” Niall said and turned around to take the plates from the counter and glanced at the counter as he did, “you’re late, you always get home for lunch a little earlier than this.”

“Oh,” Liam said, “that’s because I bought you something” he said and went to the living room to look through his bag and went back into the kitchen as Niall put the dishes on the table. “I bought you this.”

“You bought me chocolates?” Niall asked, taking the box Liam was handing him.

The older boy shrugged, “Yeah, ‘cause you were upset with me so I thought I should by you something, and chocolate makes people happy, right?”

Niall put the box on the table and threw his arms around Liam’s neck, “you make me happy.”

Liam rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless, “you’re such a sap” he said but kissed his boyfriend anyways.

“Shall we eat, then?” Niall asked when they pulled away.

“I think I’d rather eat you” Liam said kissing the blond’s cheek and then his jawline.

“Hmm, I’d like that, but if I do, then I’ll keep you here all day and I won’t let you leave for uni.”

Liam chuckled, “I’d skip classes any other day but I’ll get the grades from my exams today. At night though, I promise.” He said with a wink.

“I’m sure you did great,” he told him, “and I take your word.” Niall winked back and sat in a chair, Liam doing the same.

They ate in silence except for Liam’s comments on how delicious the food tasted. Niall was actually really good at cooking and Liam was sure he’ll be a great chef one day.

After having lunch, Liam took his things again and gave his boyfriend a kiss before leaving for uni.

*

During the afternoon, when Niall sat down on the table to organize whatever it was he was asked to buy for school, the bell rang. He frowned in confusion, he wasn’t expecting anyone.

He opened the door and found brown curls and green eyes, smiling at him.

“Harry? What are you doing here?” he said but step aside to let him in.

“Oh, hello, nice to see you too, Niall” he laughed.

“Same, mate,” he said rolling his eyes but laughing, “when did you arrived here?”

“Oh, just a couple of hours ago, I left my things at Louis’ and stayed there for while but then he had to leave for a class so I decided to come here” Harry finished shrugging.

“So you’re staying at Louis’?”

“Yeah, until I find a flat.”

“That’s good, someone needs to check on Louis’ so he doesn’t burn the kitchen down or just crash his entire flat” Niall laughed and Harry did too.

“So where’s Liam?”

“He’s in uni now, he’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“Oh.”

“You can stay, I don’t mind” Niall shrug.

“Thanks. I get bored really easy when I’m alone” Harry let out a short laugh.

“Don’t worry, I was just about to organize some books and stuff I need for school.”

“Oh, I forgot about that! So, how was it?”

“Yeah, kind of weird at first but good I guess, I need to get used to it again.” Niall shrugged and went back to the table, Harry taking a seat in front of him.

When Liam got home from uni, he was so exhausted he wanted to skip absolutely everything, life it was even possible and go to bed, but instead, he found Harry sitting in his couch next to Niall and both laughing at some show they were looking.

Niall turned around as he head the door close, “hi, Li” he said with a smile.

Harry turned around too, “hey Liam, what’s up?”

“I completely forgot you arrived today, shit, I’m sorry! Didn’t even know you find a flat!” Liam said.

“I didn’t, I’m staying at Lou’s.”

“Of course you are.” Liam said and rolled his eyes.

“You staying for dinner?” Niall asked Harry.

“Nah, I should get going, I told Lou we would caught up to date tonight so,” he shrugged and stood up, “we should all hang out some time though.”

“Yeah, we should, maybe we can manage to do it this weekend if we’re all free, we’ll see about it.”

“Alright, see you guys around.” Harry said and left the boys flat.

Niall turn to smile at Liam and said, “so, dinner?”

Liam shook his head, “if you don’t mind I’m going to skip dinner and go straight to bed, I’m exhausted.”

Niall frowned, “you alright? Well you do look like shit, actually.”

“Jeez, thanks, Ni.” Liam said rolling his eyes.

“I can make something quick and get it to bed?”

“Hmm, yeah, I guess that sounds good, I’m not very hungry though.”

“Alright, you just go to bed and I’ll make something.”

Liam went to his room and took his clothes off, leaving just his boxers and got into bed, he couldn’t help but let out a happy sigh when his back hit the mattress.

He was starting to drift off when Niall entered the room with a tray.

“Are you still up, Li?” Niall asked as he sat down next to Liam on the bed.

“Mhmm…” Liam answered and opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times before opening them properly.

“So I made some soup, and some sandwiches in case you wanted something like, solid to eat?”

“Yeah, thanks Ni” he smiled and moved to kiss the blond almost knocking everything down on the tray. “Oops,” he said and giggled.

“Come on, eat something so you can go to sleep.”

Liam ate all the soup and then ate like half a sandwich before stating he was full. Niall went to stand up to take the tray to the kitchen but Liam grabbed him by the arm so he was sitting again.

“Lay here with me?” he said, voice already low.

“I will, just let me carry this to the kitchen and I’ll turn all the lights off and stuff before coming to bed, alright?”

“Okay.” Liam nodded and Niall exited the room with the tray.

A few minutes later, Niall was in the room again. He took his shoes and socks, then his jeans, leaving just his shirt on and got on the bed.

“Noooo,” Liam whined, “take this thing off” he added pulling at the shirt.

Niall chuckled but took it off, “better now?”

“Yeah, a lot better” Liam said wrapping his arms around Niall and hiding his face in the crook of his neck. This was actually the opposite as always, as the blond wrapped his arms around him, like this time Niall was holding Liam.

“Are you okay, Liam?”

“Yeah, I just- I don’t know what happened, I was feeling good today but then I just started to feel really tired all of a sudden” Liam spoke, his words sounded muffled against Niall’s skin.

“Do you think you caught something?” the blond asked while moving his hands softly up and down the older boy’s back.

“I don’t know, I don’t really feel bad, like, my head just hurts a little but the rest is fine,” he shrugged, “I’ll be better tomorrow morning.” He finished and moved his head up a little so he could kiss Niall on the mouth.

It was a lazy kiss until suddenly, Niall felt hands grabbing his bum, then he pulled away from Liam and laughed, “thought you were tired?”

“I am,” he said and gave him a peck on the lips, “but I promised you earlier.”

Niall rolled his eyes but smiled at his boyfriend, always keeping up his promises, “I think we can skip it for tonight.”

“But I want to.” The older boy said pouting.

“How about I suck you off and then you go to sleep?”

“If you go first I’ll probably be dead after and won’t even have enough energy to even move a finger.”

“Well, that’s the idea.” Niall winked at him.

“But what about you?”

“I can take care of myself. Now,” Niall said pushed Liam so he was lying on his back, “take this off” he finished hooking a finger on the waistband of Liam’s boxers.

Liam obeyed and took off his boxers and Niall got in between his legs behind the covers, which Liam tried to take away but Niall stopped him and put them over his head again.

“But I can’t see you.” Liam complained.

“You don’t have to see me, you’re just going to feel.” Niall said as he took the head of Liam’s cock in his mouth.

*

The next morning Niall woke up to go to school when the alarm went off and proceeded to wake up his boyfriend. Liam stirred a little before opening his eyes completely.

“Morning, Ni.”

“Morning, Liam, how are you feeling today?”

“Good, I’m good.”

“An orgasm and a good sleep are the best cure for everything.” Niall said and both laughed.

After that, Liam got up to have his morning shower and Niall went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

When they were done with eating and had all their stuff they made their way to the car, Liam driving Niall to school and then off to his morning classes.

Biology, history and chemistry were Niall’s classes that day. He had started talking with this guy named Josh, he was two years older than him, which was one of the youngest people in his class. He was cool, Niall liked him, maybe he could make some friends there.

When he was in the middle of his history class, he received a text from Liam. The good thing about this school was that as most of the people had a job or family already, the use of phones wasn’t completely prohibited. He took his phone out to look at the text.

_From: Li_

_forgot I had a lunch meeting today, i won’t be home for lunch, i’m sorryyy_

_To: Li_

_oh :( don’t miss me too much then ;)_

It took Liam a while to answer back, but five minutes later, Niall got a response.

_From: Li_

_i’ll try to but i can’t promise anything. don’t you miss me too much! gotta go babe, see you at night!_

Niall smiled at the text and replied with a “<3” and Josh, who was sitting next to him, asked,

“Girlfriend?” with a smirk.

“Boyfriend.” Niall replied automatically and then realized, “I, uhm, yeah… boyfriend” he said, scratching his neck and some blush appearing on his cheeks.

Josh let out a low laugh, they were still in class so they had to be quiet, “relax mate, I’m not judging you.”

Niall smiled at him, “thanks.”

By the end of his school day, Niall had Josh’s number and yay, maybe this is his first friend since he was in London! Well, technically, Liam was, but that’s a bit different now, isn’t it? And then there were Liam friends, who were his friends too, but this is the first he’s made a friend all by himself, he was proud.

He took a bus to go home and once he was getting off the bus and walking the only street he had to walk until he was home, he saw a not too big box by a lamp post with something moving inside. He frowned and walked closer to see what it was. A little brown haired puppy was inside. It broke Niall’s heart, who could be so cruel to leave him like that? He looked at the puppy, it was so small, it couldn’t be more than a week old, his eyes weren’t even completely open yet.

He didn’t even think about it twice, he just took the box with him, he was going to take care of the puppy. He just hoped Liam won’t be mad about it.

*

By the time Liam got home from work, he was tired, again. Seems like this was getting an everyday thing, huh?

He found Niall sitting on the sofa, looking deep in thought, he didn’t even noticed Liam was there.

“Ni?” he asked and sat next to him, taking Niall out of his little world with a little jump.

“Oh God, Liam! I didn’t even hear you when you came in!”

“Yeah, I noticed that,” he chuckled, “what’s up? You seemed very concentrated on something.”

“I, uhm, I’ll show you but you need to promise you won’t be mad, okay?”

“Niall,” Liam said with a serious voice, “what have you done?”

“Just promise?”

Liam sighed, “alright, alright, I promise.”

“Wait here, then.” Niall told him and stood up and walked out of the living room. A minute later he walked in again with the little puppy sleeping in his arms.

“Oh my God,” Liam said standing up, “where did you get him from?” he asked taking him in his arms, the puppy opened his eyes for a minute and moved but was fast asleep again once he was comfortable in the older boy’s arms.

“I found him on the streets and I just- remember when we barely knew each other and I didn’t live here yet?” he asked and Liam nodded, “and I asked you why were you being so nice to me and you told me you felt like you needed to take care of me or something? Well, that’s exactly how I felt when I saw him, I think I now know what you meant. He was a in box in the street and I just- he reminded me about myself and I just couldn’t leave him there, you know? It broke my heart, look how small he is.”

“I know, he can’t be any more than… ten days old.”

“Can we keep him, Li? Please?”

“Of course we’re keeping him, why are you even asking?” Liam laughed.

The puppy was sleeping in Liam’s arms and the boys just couldn’t help but keep looking at it, he was so small and pretty and Liam loved dogs, he really did.

“What’s his name?” the older boy asked.

“I don’t know, I was too worried about you not getting upset I didn’t even have time to think of a name yet.” He said, “but when I was little I wanted to have a dog to name it Ash, but my parents never bought me one.” He ended pouting.

Liam chuckled, “I guess we can call him Ash” he shrugged, “yeah, he looks like one.”

Niall smiled big at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“We should get him to the vet though.”

“Yeah, we really should.”

“Can we do it on Friday? I have the afternoon free and I’m tired now, I don’t want to go out again.”

“Are you tired again? Are you sure you’re okay, Li?”

“Yeah, it’s just weariness and a headache, I’ll be alright after I sleep some.”

“Okay, but if you keep feeling like that I’m forcing you to go see a doctor, alright?”

“But I-“

“No buts. Now give me Ash and go to bed.”

“Aren’t you two coming with me?” Liam asked faking a sad face.

“We’ll be there in a while, I need to eat something or else I’ll die.”

“Bring me something then?”

“Alright, off you go now.”

After some minutes, Niall was in bed with a tray (again) some noodles with a sauce Liam didn’t know what it was but it was delicious, and their new pet sleeping at the end of the bed.

“You know what?” Liam asked while chewing his food.

Niall chuckled, “swallow your food first and then try again.”

Liam did, “you know what?” he said again, “last night I never got to ask you how your first day was.”

“Oh. True. And I never got to ask you how you did in your exams, now that you mention it.”

“I did good, I got two of my grades yesterday and the other two today, passed them all” he said with a big smile.

“You’re so good, Li,” he said leaning in to kiss him, “I’m proud of you.”

Liam couldn’t help but smile bigger, “now, how was school?”

“I feel such a child talking about school when you’re talking about your exams, jeez,” he said, making Liam laugh, “it was good, kind of brought some old memories, but yeah, it was good” he shrugged, “I think I made a friend too.”

Liam frowned, “is he boy?” Niall nodded. “Already?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know, just checking I don’t have any competitors.”

Niall burst out laughing, “are you serious?” he said in between pants.

“Yeah, well-”

“Liam,” Niall cut him off, “you don’t have to worry about that, no one ever is going to be better than you for me, I’m serious. After everything you’ve done for me I don’t think I could ever stop loving you, you know?”

“Yeah, it’s just… nothing.” He said, shaking his head.

“No, Liam, tell me.”

“It’s stupid.”

“If it’s stupid then tell me.”

Liam let out a sigh, “it’s just… sometimes I fear you’ll stop loving me but you’ll stay with me because I helped you live your life again and stuff and I don’t ever want to put you through that, well I don’t ever want you to stop loving me cause you mean so much to me and I don’t think I can handle that or living without you so please if you ever feel like that just talk to me.” He said in a rush, his words almost tripping one over another.

Niall just stared at him, his expression blank. “You’re not serious, right?” he asked after a minute.

Liam didn’t say anything just took his pillow and put it over his head to cover his face.

“No- no, Liam, look at me” Niall said moving and taking the pillow off Liam’s face, “that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! That is never going to happen, we’ll be together until we’re old after we’ve spent our whole lives together, alright? We’ll get married, we’ll have kids and puppies and we’ll travel and we’ll kiss a lot and we’ll be very very happy together and I’m never, never going to stop loving you, okay? I don’t think I could even if I tried.”

Liam felt his heart melt at the blond boy’s words, “do you mean that?” he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

“Of course I did, Li.” Niall replied very serious.

“I mean, do you want us to get married and have kids?”

“I, uhm- yeah, I mean-“ he let out a sigh, his face red as a ever, “I know we’re too young to talk about that now but yeah, I think I’d like that and-“ he couldn’t even finish his sentence because Liam was pressing his lips against his so hard he almost fell off the bed.

“You’re the cutest” Liam said when they pulled away, “now leave this thing on the floor and come here so I can cuddle you” he said referring to the tray. Niall did and soon enough, Liam had his chest pressed against Niall’s back, his arms around his waist and pressing his soft kisses in the blond’s shoulders.

Niall felt loved, like, really loved, he couldn’t believe Liam had doubted his love for him and- “what the fu- oh,” he said when he saw Ash was now awake and walking over his legs, he was just so tiny. “Come here so I can have someone to cuddle too.”

“Hey!” Liam exclaimed and Niall laughed as he took Ash put him next to him and petted his head behind his ears, the puppy letting out a keen sound and then a cute bark that had both boys making an “aww” sound.

*

Two weeks had passed quickly and nothing had really changed, except for the fact that Liam seemed to be too tired all the time and that was worrying Niall. Oh, and the blond was now pretty occupied with school homework and things to do, he was doing good.

They had taken Ash to the vet and had him vaccinated, and he was the prettiest little dog in the world, they loved them, really. He slept with them at night and they played with him a lot. Sometimes when there was only one of them home and wanted to take a shower, then they’ll open the bathroom door when they were finished and find Ash just sitting there in the door with sad eyes and they couldn’t help but taking him in their arms until he was barking again or licking their faces.

But even though everything was going perfect, something had popped up in Niall’s head some days ago, something he wanted to do. Or he needed to do, he wasn’t sure. But he wanted to talk about it with Liam because he knew he would be the right person to give him advice about what to do. Or maybe he wasn’t, but he still wanted to do it.

So Niall found himself sitting in his and Liam’s bed, playing his guitar (which was everything he did when he had some free time) with Ash next to him. It was Friday and it was almost time for Liam to come home from uni, it was his free day so Niall decided he was going to talk about this thing with him.

“Hello?” Liam said as he entered the flat.

“I’m in here!” Niall shouted from the bedroom.

“Oh, hello!” Liam said to Ash as he turned to look at him barking, he petted his head and then kiss Niall, “hello to you too, babe.” Niall smiled at him but his smile didn’t reach his eyes as always and Liam frowned, “is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just- there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Liam nodded, “okay, you can tell me whatever you need.”

“It’s just… I’ve been thinking about my family a lot lately, you know? And- and I think I want to talk to them…” he said, his voice going softer as he finished the sentence.

“But?”

“But I don’t know if I’m ready. I mean, there are two possibilities, right? They want to talk to me and everything’s fine or they still hate me. The one I fear is the second one, you know, but even if they still do then I think I need some kind of closure to this. What do you think I should do?”

“I think you should call them, see what happens. I don’t think they still hate you, I don’t even think they’d ever hated you, who could? But what I mean is, you said you had a good relationship with them until you were like sixteen, right?” Niall nodded, “well that’s a hard age for everyone, including parents, and you changed a lot, yeah? You should try and talk to them.”

“Should I do it now?”

“I don’t know, Ni, whenever you feel like you’re ready to.”

Niall didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, instead they just sat there, Niall thinking what would be the right thing to do, “fuck this, I’m doing it now” Niall muttered to himself and took out his phone.

He looked at the phone in his hand and let out a sigh. Liam looked at him and put a hand on his back, “I’m here, okay?” the older boy said and Niall smiled a little at him and nodded before dialing the number of his old home and putting it on speaker.

The line beeped four times before someone picked up.

“Hello?” the voice said.

Niall’s eyes went wide, he couldn’t find his voice to speak and looked at Liam with horrified eyes, who nodded at him in support.

“Hello?” the voice asked again.

“Greg?” Niall asked, his voice about to crack.

“Yah’, who’s this?” he asked, oh, how Niall has missed the irish accent.

“I- it’s Niall.”

Silence.

“Bro?” the voice asked very softly and the tone showed that he couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah…”

“But how- I just- wow.” Greg said, “it’s been so long. Where are you? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m alright,” Niall replied. Well this was weird. “And how are you?”

“I’m good. Wow, this is just- it’s unbelievable. I missed you so much, Ni.”

Liam smiled at Niall’s brother’s words.

“I missed you too, bro.” The blond said, a small smiled appearing on his lips, “are mum and dad there?”

“Uhm, no, they’re not here right now,” Greg told him, “well I wasn’t supposed to either, I moved out last year, you know?”

“You did? That’s great, Greg, I remember you always saying you wanted your own place.”

“Yeah, I have one now. I’m only here ‘cause mum asked me to pick something up for her while she was out.”

“Oh,” Niall said, “this is going to sound stupid but… do you think they’ll want to talk to me?”

“Well…” Greg started, “I think they will, I’m pretty sure they had talked about you, I heard them a couple of times, but they never really said anything to me. Maybe I can ask them if they want to? I mean, as if it was a hypothetical situation, you know?”

“Yeah, that- that’d be great, Greg.”

“Alright. Then I think you should give me your number or something so I can call you?”

“Yeah, yeah, do you have something to write there?” Greg told him he did and Niall gave him his number.

“So what about you bro? Where in the world are you?”

“I’m in London. I’ve been here since I ran away.”

“Oh, so are you still with that girl you liked?”

“No,” Niall said firmly, “she was a bitch.”

“Oh.” Was all his brother said, “so what are you doing now? Are you studying? Working? Do you have your own apartment?”

“I- I don’t think I want to talk about these past two years.” Niall said and Liam ran his hand up and down his back.

“It’s okay, babe, it’s okay.” Liam whispered to him and placed a little kiss on the blond’s shoulder.

And apparently, Greg heard him , ‘cause then he asked, “who’s that?”

“And I don’t know if you want to know about this now.” Niall said.

“Niall.” Greg said with a firm tone.

The blond sighed, “that’s- that’s my boyfriend.” He stated.

Greg didn’t say anything.

“Greg?” Niall asked, doubt in his voice, “are you still there?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just-“

“Are you mad?”

“No. No, it’s just- it’s a lot to process.” Greg answered, “so are you, like- gay now?”

“I- I don’t know,” Niall started, “I didn’t know I liked boys until I met him? Maybe I just like him.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Yeah, you’re on speaker so go ahead.”

“Alright, I can talk to the both of you at the same time then. So, uhm, hello?” he said.

“Hey,” Liam said, “I’m Liam.”

“Well hello, Liam.”

“Nice to meet you, I mean, to hear you, like- yeah, you get what I mean.” Liam said and scratched the back of his neck and blushing a bit because did he just embarrassed himself in front of his boyfriend’s brother? Niall saw him and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Greg chuckled on the other side of the line, “I do.” He said, “so do you guys like, live together?” Greg asked, and then “wait, was it that?”

Ash had entered the boy’s bedroom barking and jumped onto to bed.

“That’d be Ash, he’s our dog” he told him and then, “yeah, yeah, we do live together.” Niall answered.

“And since- oh, wait, shit” Greg said and both boys could hear a phone ringing on the other side of the line, “that’s mum, so um, I’ll call you later, alright bro? I’ll talk to mum and dad and I’ll let you know.”

“Alright, great to talk to you, bro.” Niall said and smiled.

“Same here, and Liam? Take care of my brother, alright?”

“Of course I will.” Liam said.

“Okay then, bye guys!” Greg said and the line went dead.

Niall locked his phone and put it in his bedside table and then turned to rest his head on Liam’s shoulder and let out a long sigh, “so that wasn’t that bad.”

“It wasn’t, I told you it wouldn’t be.”

“Yeah, I mean, it’ll take him some time to… get used to us but he’ll get to it. My parents are what I’m worried about.”

“We’ll take it one step at a time, alright Ni?” Liam said and placed a kiss on the top of Niall’s head.

“We will. Thanks for doing this with me, Li.”

“Hey, I’m always here to support you, remember?”

“Yeah,” Niall smiled, “love you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aweee, but aren't they the cutest, they have a little puppy now!   
> and well, things are starting to change for Niall, who knows what's going to happen with his family!   
> please let me know what you think! (: x


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ni?” Liam asked a couple of minutes later. He sounded nervous.  
> “Hmm?”  
> “I- I’m ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is a couple of days late, I'm sorry but yay, new chapter!

January passed quickly and so did almost half of February. The boys got to talk to Greg some more and he told him he was working on getting Niall’s parents to talk to him. It made the blond a little sad, that his parents didn’t want to talk to him, but he wouldn’t blame them, he was the one that ran away more than two years ago and never went back and then suddenly wanted to speak to them again. Hopefully they’ll get to it soon.

Even Harry’s birthday had already passed and as he has been living there for a short time, he decided he didn’t want a big party (something he would have done if he was back home) like Louis suggested, so they decided to go out clubbing. They were all completely wasted. Yes, _all_ of them, even Liam. He had the worst hangover the day after (and so did Niall but he was a bit better at handling that) so they got to cuddle all day in bed.

But the thing now was, Valentine’s Day was in two days, so they needed to plan whatever it was that they were going to do.

“So… Valentine’s Day is on Thursday,” Liam said while they cuddled on the couch watching a movie, “what are we doing?”

Niall hummed while thinking, “I think we should have like a nice dinner here, something chilled, as we both have things to do the next day and then have a proper Valentine’s on Friday, what do you think?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. We can go out during the day and then I’ll take you out to some nice place for dinner on Friday, yeah?”

“I’d like that,” Niall smiled at him, “I’ll cook something on Thursday night then.”

“Okay, surprise me then.” Liam said laughing and Niall smiled at him.

The conversation ended there and their attention was back to the TV. Apparently they missed something important about the storyline during their two minutes talk because they were now a little lost into the movie.

“Ni?” Liam asked a couple of minutes later. He sounded nervous.

“Hmm?”

“I- I’m ready.”

Niall lifted his face from where it was resting on Liam’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes and smiled, “I know, Li” he said softly, and rested his head back again on the older boy’s shoulder, placing a kiss on his neck.

It was true though, he knew Liam was ready, he could see it in the way he was acting around him. They have always felt really comfortable around each other, but Liam was acting a lot more confident now. And it was in his touches, the way he looked at him lately.

*

Thursday morning Niall woke up a little earlier than usually to make breakfast so he could carry it to bed for Liam. But when he got up and sat in bed, Liam wasn’t there and there was a smell of food floating in the air. Niall frowned, Liam couldn’t cook, could he?

He got up from the bed and opened the door of the room and headed to the kitchen to stop himself halfway when he heard Liam singing. Holy shit that boy could sing. He must have stayed at least two minutes just standing there listening to him when he decided to go on with what he was doing.

He entered the room silently and wrapped his arms around Liam’s waist and placed a kiss on the side of his neck, “that is some nice falsetto you have there, Li, you have an amazing voice” he said and Liam could feel him smiling against his skin.

“You’re a lot better, babe” Liam said turning around in his heels and putting his arms around Niall’s neck.

“I don’t think so” Niall chuckled and placed a kiss on Liam’s lips. “So you just basically ruined my idea of making you breakfast.”

Liam smiled big at him, “I won!”

Niall rolled his eyes and laughed, “I’m surprised you didn’t burn the kitchen down.”

“Hey!” Liam said and faked a pout, making Niall laugh, “I wanted to make pancakes but I didn’t know how to so I looked for a recipe on the internet and I guess that’s how it turned?” He said untangling himself from Niall and turning around to point at the pancakes he made. “They are not burnt, aren’t they?”

“Nope, they don’t look like they are” Niall said, looking at them.

“Let’s eat them then” Liam said, “oh, my idea was to put them on a tray and take them to bed, can we still do that?”

“Yeah,” Niall answered him, “I’ll go to bed and wait for you then.” He turned around and made his way into the bedroom again, sat on the bed with his back against the headboard and with the blankets over his legs.

A minute later, Liam entered the room with a tray with a two mugs of coffee and pancakes. He sat on the bed next to Niall and placed the tray between them. Niall went to take a fork but Liam slapped his hand away, the blond looked at him confused.

Liam then took a fork and took some of the food with it and then placed it in front of Niall’s face. The blond rolled his eyes but smiled and then opened his mouth for Liam.

The older boy continued to feed Niall while the blond boy did the same. Niall managed to get some cream on Liam’s cheek and then kissed it away, making his way to kiss him on the lips and then breakfast was forgotten.

After some time of kissing, they pulled, away, “mmm, happy valentine’s, babe” Liam said.

Niall smiled, “same for you, Li” he said and pecked him on the lips. “You know, this is my first Valentine’s Day.”

“Is it?” asked the older boy, “I’ll try my best to make it extra special then.” He added smiling at the blond boy.

“No need to, Li” he said and snuggled closer to Liam, his arms around the older boy’s middle.

“Well, as much as I’d like to spend the whole day cuddling in bed with you, we need to get up and start preparing ourselves.” He sighed.

Niall groaned and tightened his arms around Liam, “noooo, I don’t want to!”

Liam laughed, “me neither, Ni, me neither, but come on, we’ll have a pretty dinner tonight and our day tomorrow.”

Niall sighed and let go of his boyfriend and stood up and so did Liam as they started to get prepared for the day.

*

Morning classes for Niall were pretty much the same as always and he was bored as fuck. He was very tempted to text Liam but he knew the older boy was always busy and always replied late so he opted for not bothering him.

Liam’s day was a complete chaos in uni. For some reason his schedule was going to be changed to classes from Monday to Friday, all in the morning and at night, which meant he’ll have to change his working hours to being all during the afternoon, which left him with… nonexistent time to spend with Niall. _‘No way’_ he thought as he walked towards the dean office. And apparently he wasn’t the only one having trouble with things because the office was crowded and there was a line going outside. He sighed as he had to wait to talk about this. He wasn’t going to be able to spend lunch with Niall today and it was fucking Valentine’s Day, great.

*

When Niall came home from school he went straight to the kitchen to make some lunch, Liam was supposed to be there in a few as he always was before going to work, but just as he was about to open the fridge, the bell rang. He frowned, if it was Liam, then he had a key, why would he ring the bell?

He walked to the door and looked through the peephole to see a man holding a bunch of flowers. He smiled to himself before opening the door.

“Niall Horan?” the guy asked.

“Yes, that’s me.” He replied.

“These are for you,” he said handing Niall the flowers, “I need you to sign this, please.” He told him while handing him a paper and a pen.

Niall signed the paper and thanked the guy before shutting the door closed.

White roses, Niall’s favorites. He didn’t think he had told Liam about it, but he guessed Liam knew him too well. He inhaled the smell from the flowers and then looked at a little card hanging from the bouquet.

_“Chaotic day in uni today, I’ll tell you later. I’m sorry I’m not there in this special day for us. I love you so much, Liam. x”_

Aw, but wasn’t Liam the cutest?

Niall spent the rest of the day playing guitar and watching TV with Ash, but not without receiving a text from Liam each hour.

_(2 p.m.) From: Li_

_I love you_

_(3 p.m.) From: Li_

_I love you a lot_

_(4 p.m.) From: Li_

_I love you so much_

_(5 p.m.) From: Li_

_I wanna go home so bad I miss you ):_

_(6 p.m.) From: Li_

_I love you so much, Niall_

And it kept going like that all day, and of course Niall replied to each and every one of them, “I love you too”, “I love you more”, “I miss you more Liam ):”, it was actually so cute you could die.

*

Liam came home around 9 p.m. after his night classes, and when he entered the flat, the lights were off and the only source of light were some candles in the kitchen table. He left his bag in the floor by the door and walked inside the kitchen with his hands behind his back. He saw Niall putting two plates on the table and he was looking amazing, he always looked good, but this was better than it always was.

Niall smiled at him and walked towards Liam to give him a hello kiss.

“Feels like I haven’t seen you in months, missed you” Liam whispered.

“You’re being dramatic,” Niall said with a small laugh and rolling his eyes just as Liam put his hands in front of him, holding a heart shaped chocolate box and a single red rose.

Niall took them and smiled at the older boy, then smelled the rose and put both items on the table before throwing his arms around Liam’s neck, “you’re the cutest ever, you’ve been so romantic today, Li.”

Liam shrugged, his hands on the blond boy’s hips, “just felt like doing something nice for you.”

Niall then pressed his body against Liam’s and hugged him tightly, “I love you” he whispered in the crook of Liam’s neck before placing a soft kiss there. “Shall we eat, then?” he asked disentangling himself from Liam before the older boy could even said anything  back.

They sat by the table (white roses in a vase in the middle) and ate the amazing food Niall prepared for them. They had taken quite some habit of feeding each other lately. Then dessert was as amazing as the food was, Liam couldn’t stop telling Niall he would be such a great chef one day and that he was going to be his number one fan when he was famous for his meals. Niall couldn’t stop laughing and telling “that’s because you can’t cook for shit, but I still like you anyways” and blushing nonstop at the older boy’s words.

After dinner, which was “fucking exquisite” (Liam’s words), they decided to go watch something on TV while cuddling in bed, which of course ended up in just cuddling and kissing lots but none of them paying attention to whatever was playing on the TV until they fell asleep.

*

Friday morning was pretty much the same as the day before, waking up, kissing, shower, kissing, breakfast, kissing, car ride, kissing and then Niall was off to school and Liam was driving for work.

They knew what was going to happen at night, but they just wanted to take it slow, enjoy the day. Which of course, the morning didn’t pass very quick for any of them. Niall spent the whole day writing random notes and looking at the ceiling and at the time in his phone, Josh even asked him if he was alright, which was answered with a smile and a “more than alright, mate.”

Liam wasn’t focusing on… what was that he was doing again? Oh well, he couldn’t focus and he almost spilled his coffee over his desk at least three times. Can he be any more nervous?

Fortunately for Liam, he was told he could go home earlier today (wooo! He didn’t even bother to ask why, he just stood from his desk and almost ran home.)

Niall, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky, he took the bus to go back to their flat and who knows what happened that traffic was a complete chaos. Apparently some accident involving like three cars so transports had to change the course.

By the time the blond made it to the flat, Liam was coming out of the shower, just wearing a pair of boxers and drying his hair with a towel. “Fuck” he muttered, looking at Liam from head to toe, which made the older boy roll his eyes and chuckle. It’s just, they haven’t been very sexually active lately because… yeah, tonight was the night, you know? Why haven’t they done anything? Who knows, they never talked about it, it was kind of a silent agreement between the two of them.

“So,” Liam started, clearing his throat to take the blond out of his own thoughts, making him blush.

“Yeah, I’m- I’m sorry, I just zoned out for a bit” Niall chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.

“Nothing to be sorry for, babe” Liam said and pecked him on the lips.

“You know, that’s- that’s one for my favorite things,” said Niall, “when you call me like that.” He finished, his cheeks blushing again.

“What? Babe?” Liam asked, emphasizing the word.

“Yeah…” the blond said in soft voice.

Liam chuckled, “you’re so cute” he said, hugging his boyfriend, the blond’s head against Liam’s bare chest, then added, “this is weird, you standing there wearing clothes and me wearing nothing but boxers.”

Niall laughed, “I prefer you without those on.”

“I prefer you without all those on too, believe me, buuuut, not now, I already planned our day!” Liam said walking away from Niall and towards their bedroom to put some clothes on.

“So, what are we doing then?”

“I thought we should go to the theatre,” Liam said while putting his pants up, “to see like, a real play, not just a movie cause one, there’s nothing good on the cinema and two, I like theatre?” he finished.

“Alright,” Niall shrugged, “I don’t remember when was the last time I went to see a play though.”

“You get to choose what we see then, but please don’t choose one of those dramatic or romantic plays, please please.” Liam laughed and so did Niall.

“Alright, we’ll see what’s there to see. And then what?”

“Then we go have dinner to a restaurant I already made reservation for and then we come back home” Liam finished his sentence and winked at Niall.

“Okay, I like those plans,” he smiled at the older boy, “can we have lunch before though, it’s like really late for it but I’m starving, have you eaten though?”

Liam rolled his eyes, “why am I not surprised you’re talking about food?” he laughed, “I did, I bought food for you, it’s in the kitchen.”

“Great! Love you!” the blond said giving Liam a peck on the lips and almost ran towards the kitchen, Liam shaking his head but smiling at his boyfriend anyways.

*

Niall had chosen some kind of romantic but comedic play to see at the theatre and Liam hadn’t protested, if his boy wanted to see that, then that was what they were going to see.

They bought tickets for the last raw so that way they could kiss if they want to with no one looking at them. They did kiss, and quite some times, let me tell you, but no one bothered them about it.

The play was some kind of modern version of Romeo and Juliet but with traces of comedy during the story line. The actors were great, the script was amazing and funny and they boys had a very good time. It was something different, something they haven’t done before and when Liam thought about it, thought it was worth a shot. They will definitely be going to the theatre a lot more now.

By the time they were out of the play, it was already time for them to head to the restaurant where Liam had made reservations.

It was a fancy place, and that was why Liam asked Niall to wear something nice. The place was quiet and had some kind of intimate atmosphere, and Liam of course, had booked a table far away enough from the rest of them so no one had the chance to hear them or bother them.

They sat down on the table, black and white tablecloth with some petals spread over the table. The waiter appeared a minute later asking if they were having something to drink and they chose some fine wine they have never heard about but this was a good excuse to just feel important and ask for an expensive wine. The waiter was back with their wine a minute later and left after he served the liquid on their glasses.

They talked about nothing really relevant while looking at the menus, just about the play they’ve seen just before going there and then Liam asking random question about the food it was served there, _‘what the fuck is this sauce supposed to be?’_ he’ll ask and Niall would laugh and then, being the food lover he is, he’ll explain the ingredients of said dish.

Liam ended up ordering some pasta and Niall some salad Liam didn’t even know what things it was made of and some chicken with a very sophisticated seasoning for the older boy’s liking, but then again, Niall had quite a refined taste to what it came to food.

Niall decided to talk while they were drinking some more of their wine and waiting for their food. “Li?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Uhm, I know this is not really the right place or the right time, but I just wanted to let you know that these past months have been amazing and that I’ll be forever grateful for everything you’ve done for me.”

Liam smiled sweetly at him, “same goes to you, Ni, these past months have probably been the most amazing in my life, or at least that I can remember. You’re an amazing human being and I love you, alright? I don’t want you to ever forget that.”

“I won’t,” he smiled, “I love you too.”

And then the their food was being placed on the table in front of them and the topic changed to how nice the restaurant looked while they tried their foods and they were both very satisfied with their choices. Of course Liam had let the blond try his pasta and he himself tried Niall’s dish but decided to stick with his pasta because Niall’s food was ‘quite too much for his poor taste’, which made Niall laugh.

They finished their food and decided to ask for some dessert, some chocolate thingy Niall had chosen for the both of them as the waiter told them it was big enough for two people to share. Not a surprise, Niall was a big fan of desserts, and even more if they were made of chocolate so Liam had eaten some of it, yes, but slowly so Niall could eat more of it without even noticing.

After stating they were satisfied with the food and content with the amazing dinner they had, they decided it was time for them to head home. Liam had asked for the bill and after paying, they were out of the restaurant and inside Liam’s car.

The car ride was silent but not awkward, and by the time they were close to be home, they were both starting to feel pretty nervous about how was it supposed to work now? He wasn’t going to just push Niall inside the bedroom and say “hey, let’s have sex” because that’s exactly what he didn’t want, meaningless sex, this was supposed to be special, apart from being their first time together (and Niall’s first time with a boy too), he wanted to be something to remember, something he could go back and look and smile when thinking about it.

They entered the flat and hung their coats by the door.

“Today was amazing, Li, thank you.” Niall said smiling at Liam and then kissing him. And that was it, it was so easy, why didn’t Liam think about that?

The kiss started slow and almost shy, as if they were too self conscious about what was going to happen, and that’s when they realized they wanted this, they _really_ did, and that it shouldn’t be something they need to think that much, it was something they needed to feel, they just needed to let themselves go.

After some time the kiss started to get more heated and little moans and gasps were escaping their mouths and hands were traveling up and down their backs, pulling hair and holding to each other as if their lives depended on it.

“Bedroom?” Liam asked once they pulled away for air and started kissing Niall’s neck.

“Yeah…” answered Niall, it was more of a gasp but Liam got it anyways.

The older boy lifted Niall off the floor and carried him to the bed bridal style and made the blond laugh. He laid Niall on the bed as gently as he could and the blond took him by the arm, dragging Liam along with him. They kissed for some more time and then Liam started pulling at the hem of Niall’s shirt until he took it off, breaking the kiss just to do that and removing his own shirt.

Liam started kissing down Niall’s neck, sucking a lovebite and then going lower while whispering between kisses, “you’re so beautiful”, “I love you, Ni”, “you’re so pretty”, and Niall was starting to feel kind of emotional, not only he was aroused by Liam’s action because everything he was doing to his body was indescribable, but those soft words made him emotionally ‘unstable’, and then “I’m so lucky to have you” Liam mumbled against the skin of Niall’s abs while he was going down on him, and then, Niall let out a sob that alarmed Liam who lifted his face and moved to face the blond.

“Are you okay, Ni? Did I do something?” the older boy asked worried and then Niall chuckled while a tear ran down his face. Liam couldn’t be any more confused.

“I’m- I’m sorry, Li,” said Niall, “I guess I just went a little emotional over here for a moment, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, but what did I-“

“You said “I’m so lucky to have you”, and you Liam, have no idea it’s actually the other way around, it’s actually me who’s lucky to have you,” Niall said, “I love you so much, Li.” He whispered and then lifted his face to crash his lips against Liam’s in a kiss.

“I love you too,” Liam said, “let me show you how much I do.”

And Liam started his way down again, while Niall ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair and touched his shoulders softly.

Liam proceeded to get rid of Niall’s pants and underwear and his cock sprung free. He took it in his hand and moved it up and down slowly while placing kisses on Niall’s thigh.

“Li…” Niall let out as a low moan and then Liam let go of his member.

“Turn around, babe” he said while unbuttoning his pants and taking them off with his boxers.

To be honest, Niall has always been kind of worried about how the fuck he was going to fit Liam’s cock inside him. Guess it was about time they figure that out.

Niall turned around and lifted himself on his hands and knees but then turned his head to Liam just as the older boy was discarding his boxers to some place across the room, “but I can’t see you like this?” he said, sounding like a question and with a nervous voice.

Liam just moved closer to him and placed himself on top of him, like if he was hugging him from behind, “I’m sorry,” he said and place a kiss between Niall’s shoulder blades, “but it’s going to hurt a lot less like this, Ni. I promise you can turn around once it’s okay.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Liam smiled against Niall’s skin, and then he was gone.

Niall was confused when he didn’t feel the weight of Liam’s body against his and turned his head around just in time to see Liam sitting behind him, leaving a small bottle of lube next to him.

“Okay, you might think this is weird but it’ll feel good, alright?”

Niall wasn’t looking at him anymore, his head was hanging between his arms now and he frowned at the older boy’s words, “but you already finge- _oh God._ ” He cut himself off when he felt Liam’s hand spreading his cheeks and his wet tongue against his hole.

Liam kept using his tongue on him, licking and even pushed it inside a little, making Niall moan. After a couple of minutes, Niall felt the first finger circling his hole and pushing inside. Liam moved it in and out for a minute before pushing a second one in. The first was easier, it wasn’t much of a stretch yet, but the second one was always a little more painful and Niall let out a hiss, even though they’d done this before.

Liam’s other hand moved to the blond’s cock and started tugging at it to give him some kind of pleasure not to pay attention to the pain as he pushed a third finger. Niall was moaning louder each time Liam pushed his fingers inside, brushing that spot inside him.

“Li, I’m ready, please.” Niall said half gasping, half moaning.

“Yeah, yeah… okay.” Liam said, more to himself than to Niall. He went to open a condom but Niall turned to see him and stopped him with his hand.

“No, Li.”

“You sure?” he asked.

“One hundred percent sure.” Niall said with a small smile even though his cheeks were blushing and nodded.

So Liam opened the bottle of lube and made sure his cock was wet enough not to hurt the blond. “This is going to hurt a little, okay? Just tell me if you want me to stop.” Niall nodded.

Liam started pushing inside Niall and let out a groan when just the tip was in. He kept going, stopping when he felt Niall was breathing to heavy or he would let out a hiss, until the blond would tell him he could keep going. Once he was fully inside, he stayed still, letting the other boy get used to the feeling. He noticed Niall was trembling a little so he wrapped his arm around the blond’s middle and lifted them both, just supporting their weights on their knees, Niall’s back against Liam’s chest.

The older boy placed small kisses down the side of Niall’s neck, the back of it and his shoulders, with his arm still wrapped around him while the other one was running up and down Niall’s abs but touching him very softly, making the blond’s muscles there contract.

Liam still hadn’t moved one inch, he could feel how tight and hot Niall was around him and it was taking him a lot of will power not to start thrusting. After a couple of minutes, he felt the blond relax, “you okay?” he asked.

“Mhm,” Niall said, turning his head to kiss Liam on the lips, “always okay with you, Li.”

That was when Liam knew he could start moving, “bend a little and grab the headboard” he told Niall, who did as he was told. And then Liam’s hands were on the younger boy’s waist and pulled out almost all the way before pushing inside again slowly, making Liam moan and Niall gasp. He kept a steady pace for some time until Niall’s gasps turned into moans of “there, there, oh God” and then the moans started to get louder and then he started to move faster.

“L- Li, I want to turn around.” Niall said and then Liam was pulling out to let him room to move in the bed.

Niall laid on his back and spread his legs, which Liam took and hooked them over his shoulders while pressing his length inside Niall once again. The position was a lot better and he was brushing Niall’s sweet spot with every thrust. The younger boy couldn’t stop gasping and moaning, Liam’s name escaping his mouth from time to time.

“Li?” he intended to ask but came as a moan, “Li,” he tried again and chuckled.

“What is it?” Liam asked, stopping his movement.

“My legs are tired.” The blond said with a sheepish smile, his cheeks red.

Liam then let go of Niall’s legs and wrapped them around his waist and lowered himself to kiss Niall and started to move again. “Better?” he asked.

“Ye- _ah_ \- sss.”

Liam then kept of rocking inside Niall, not slowly but not very fast either. He was placing kisses on Niall’s neck the whole time while the blond boy was supporting himself by grabbing Liam’s arms.

“Li- I- a bit faster, please.” Niall told him.

Liam started moving his hips faster and took Niall’s cock in his hand and started tugging at it. He could feel Niall clenching around him and it was driving him crazy.

Niall felt his orgasm forming on his lower stomach and he could feel Liam’s cock pulsing inside him.

“Ni, I’m gonna-“ Liam said and went to pull out but Niall stopped him by making him push inside him again with his legs wrapped around Liam’s waist, making the both of them moan.

“Are you- _fuck_ \- are you sure, babe?”

“Yeah, Li, please.”  

And after three more thrust, Liam was coming inside Niall, who shot his load between their bodies when he felt Liam’s warm cum filling him up, that and the hand that was still moving up and down his cock were what brought him to the edge. Liam coming with a low groan and Niall with a long moan of Liam’s name.

A moment later, Liam pulled out and laid on the bed besides Niall, both still breathing hard and fast but with a smile of their faces.

After a minute, when their breathings were even again, Liam turned to his bedside table and grabbed a tissue to clean himself and another one to clean Niall. He cleaned all Niall’s chest and abs and then went lower and saw his cum dripping out his hole, “fuck” he muttered and then Niall clenched his hole, causing more of it to come out and chuckled. Liam then cleaned him softly and the blond hissed because well, he was kind of oversensitive over there.

Once Liam was done, he chucked the tissues in the can next to the bed and laid down again as Niall moved so he was lying on his side to kiss him, “that was amazing” he mumbled against the older boy’s mouth between kisses.

They kept kissing for a while until Liam felt Niall’s hand grab his length, starting to move it up and down, making him moan against the blond’s mouth until he was hard again.

“Your turn now, yeah?” Niall asked, “you want to?”

Liam nodded, “yeah.”

Niall then moved and positioned himself between Liam’s legs but not before grabbing some pillows, “up” he told Liam patting the side of his bum a little and Liam lifted his hips so Niall could place the pillows behind him.

He grabbed the lube and slicked his fingers with it. He moved so he was sitting, crossed legged and Liam’s legs where on his shoulders. He pressed a first finger slowly and placed a kiss on the older boy’s thigh. Liam didn’t show much resistance so a minute later he was pressing a second one and he could feel Liam’s muscles tensing a bit, so he moved his other hand to Liam’s abs to caress him there and soon he felt him relax.

“Another?” he asked and Liam nodded.

He pushed a third finger slowly and stopped when they were all in until he felt Liam a little more comfortable and then he curled them inside making the older boy moan.

He kept going for some minutes until Liam’s face didn’t show any discomfort anymore and he wouldn’t let out any more hisses. He pulled his fingers out, Liam whimpering at the loss, and take the legs off his shoulders to place himself in between his legs, the head of his cock ready to push inside but then stopped himself.

“You want me to use a condom?” he asked and Liam shook his head no. “You ready?” he asked then, placing a kiss on the older boy’s forehead and Liam nodded.

Niall started pushing inside him while placing kisses all over his neck, mumbling ‘I loveyou’s’ against his skin while he kept going, very slowly and Liam threw his head back to give him more room.

Once he was completely inside, he stayed still so Liam could get used to the feeling.

“You feel amazing, Li” the blond said, placing a kiss on Liam’s cheek, “you okay?”

Liam nodded, “always okay with you, Ni.” he said with a smile, repeating the other boy’s words.

Niall then pulled out just a little bit and head Liam hiss and his arms tensed.

“It’s okay, Li, it’s just me, alright? Relax. Can you do that?” he asked, almost whispering and running his hand down Liam’s jaw, and Liam nodded again.

Niall didn’t move for a minute until Liam nodded as a sign for Niall to start doing it.

He moved very slow at first, and Liam couldn’t help but wince because yeah, it hurt. Niall lifted himself from Liam’s body, supporting his weight on his arms placed at each side of Liam’s head. He could see Liam had gone a bit limp because of the pain so he lowered his hand between his bodies to grab his boyfriend’s cock.

After some minutes of thrusting, Niall moved to change his position and that’s when he found it, Liam let out a loud moan and he smiled to himself and let go of Liam’s length. He then started to thrust faster, brushing that spot inside Liam repeatedly, the older boy groaning and moaning each time.

Moments later, Niall could feel himself close to orgasming, “do you want me to pull out?” he asked Liam.

The older boy shook his head, “no, it’s okay.”

A minute later, Niall stilled himself inside Liam, shooting his load inside, the older boy moaning at the feeling and the blond’s hid his face in the crook of Liam’s neck while he let out a groan.

“Ni, please-“ Liam said and grabbed his cock with his hand to move it frantically.

Niall then pulled out and moved so his face was hovering over Liam’s cock and took his hand away, wrapping the head with his mouth. He bobbed his head up and down a couple of times when he heard Liam cried out his name and he started coming down Niall’s throat. He kept sucking him through his orgasm until he was done and then let go to lay in bed next to Liam.

“Definitely more of a bottom” Niall mumbled.

Liam turned to look at him with frown, “was I really that bad?” he asked, his voice with kind of sad.

 _‘Did I really just said that aloud? Jeez, how stupid’_ he thought and opened his eyes wide, “No! No, Li. It’s just-“ he cut himself and blushed, “I kind of love your cock.” he said very low and blushed even more if it was possible.

Liam then chuckled, “good, ‘cause I’m definitely more of a top.”

Niall laughed and then went to clean him and Liam and when he was done, he smiled at his boyfriend and moved to kiss him on the lips, “thanks for tonight, Li, everything was amazing. You are amazing.”

“So are you, babe” he answered, pecking him on the lips, “now, how about some sleep?” he added, throwing the blankets over his bodies, none of them even bothering to put some clothes on and Niall snuggled closer to Liam before drifting off to sleep.

*

You know how people say that after the first time it gets addictive? Like you can’t stop and you always want more? Well, the boys weren’t an exception to that rule (if you can call it a rule.)

They’ll take whatever moment alone they’d have, and at first it was all lovingly and carefully, soft touches and kind words and lots of kissing; but eventually they tried and experimented.

Liam was more a softie, no need to lie about it, he liked to whisper in Niall’s ear (or the other way around) and to kiss a lot and touch a lot, like he was trying to memorize every part of Niall’s body.

Niall, on the other hand, liked a little more… rough. He would ask Liam to do it faster or harder and tell them he could take it and Liam was always a little hesitant but then couldn’t resist him, oh sweet Liam. He liked a little bit of dirty talk too, it turned him on, and when he first asked Liam to do it, the older boy felt slightly uncomfortable but then grew fond of the idea when he saw how it affected the blond.

_(“Come on Li, give it to me.”_

_“Mhm, you want it?” Liam asked kissing and biting the side of Niall’s neck._

_“Yeah, get in me, Liam, please.” Niall’s eyes shut in pleasure, his words almost moans._

_“Alright now, I’m gonna fuck you nice and hard just how I know you like it, how about that, sounds good?” the older boy asked tugging at the blond’s hair._

_“Yeah, fuck Li, please.”)_

And whenever it was school/work night, and Liam was tired or had a headache, or both, which usually was all the time (something that was worrying Niall), and the blond would tell Liam they could skip it for a night, Liam would say no, that he was fine and would get him so worked up, Niall would end up riding him so Liam didn’t have to make much efforts, plus, it was one of their favorite positions.

*

Apart from all the sex they were having, they still remembered they had lives, and still they went to their friend’s house to have dinner and watch football and just have some chilling time. Niall even got to invite Josh once, and Liam got to meet him and Niall proved him he had nothing to worry about. Luckily for the blond, his friend clicked quickly with all of them, he was proud of himself. And his friends too, of course.

But ever since Valentine’s Day, something was off between Louis and Harry, and they can feel it in the air, and so did Zayn, everytime they were over at theirs. So Liam decided to at least find out what was going on, and if it was possible, fix it.

That night, Liam had invited the rest of the boys over their flat just to hang out.

“Jeez man, this place stinks of sex!” Louis said joking when Liam opened the door to let him and the other two boys in, making them all laugh and Liam rolled his eyes.

“Well sex’s good so that wouldn’t actually be a bad thing” Niall said with a cheeky tone, looking at Liam and shrugging.

“Uuuuuugh, mate, I didn’t need that much information!” Louis whined and they all laughed again.

“So… how about we grab some beers and food and watch the game?” Liam asked and they all nodded, “Harry, help me in the kitchen?”

“Isn’t Niall the best man for that?” Harry asked.

“Just fucking come with me” Liam mumbled and grabbed Harry by an arm and dragged him to the kitchen, Zayn and Louis looking confused, turning to look at Niall who just shrugged and went to sit on the couch, the boys following him. Of course Niall knew what Liam was on about, but he wasn’t just going to tell Louis.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen,

“What the fuck was that?!” Harry asked.

“What the fuck is wrong between you and Louis?” Liam asked him and Harry let out a long sigh and fell in a chair.

“Well, I, uhm…” Harry started, not know how to tell Liam and scratched his neck.

Liam rolled his eyes, “Harry, come on, we’ve known each other forever, just spit it out already.”

“Okay, I, uhm- ImighthavekissLouisonValentine’sDay” he said on a hurry.

Liam frowned, did he just said he- no, “I’m sorry?” he asked again.

Harry let out a frustrated sigh and repeated himself, “I kissed Louis on Valentine’s Day.”

Liam just stared at his friend with a blank expression and then burst out laughing.

“Liam, I’m serious!” Harry said with an exasperate expression.

“I- I believe you but,” he said in between pants from all the laughing, “it’s just- wow, I didn’t expect that at all.”

Harry blushed and looked down.

“Did he kiss you back?” Liam asked serious now that he stopped laughing.

“I- I think he did for like- a second, you know? But then pulled away really quickly and said something about needing to be somewhere and left and- fuck, Liam, I don’t even know what happened.”

Liam put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and was about to speak when they heard Niall from the living room, “LIAM WHERE’S MY BEER?!”

Liam rolled his eyes and shouted back at him, “YOU WANT A BEER THEN GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND GET ONE!”

“BUT LIAAAAAAAAM!” they heard the blond whine from the kitchen and chuckled.

Liam sighed, “Coming!” he shouted back and then turned to look at Harry again, “we’ll fix this, okay?” Harry smiled at him and nodded, getting up from his seat and grab bears and snacks with Liam before going back to the living room with the rest of the boys. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so:  
> 1\. did some Larry happened?! oops.  
> 2\. I know the smut part is a little weird but I wanted to make their first time as realistic as possible.  
> 3\. Exams are coming so bare with me, I'll try to update as soon as I can.  
> thank you all for reading, feedback is always welcomed! ily (: x


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Am not, I feel perf-“ he said standing up quickly and then fell to the floor.  
> “Liam?!” Niall yelled at him, “come on, Li, get up, baby” he said grabbing Liam’s arm but he wasn’t moving and his eyes were closed and, did he just fainted?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me so much to update, I'm sorryyyyy! but hey, I already passed one of my exams, so here, have a new chapter, yay!

Things between the two boys had been amazing, their relationship was still growing and they were as in love as they were the first day.

Liam kept on working at the office and going to his classes and fortunately, he always got good marks, something Niall would never understand, if it was him, and he had to work and go to class and study, he wouldn’t know how to manage to do everything and probably die before finding time to do all of that and pass his exams. Plus, the older boy always seemed to find time to spend with Niall.

On the other hand, Niall was still in school, he’s made some friends, most of them are his age or a little older, they are all pretty cool. All his exams were okay, he passed them all, except for…

“Aaaaaaaaaah, this is all fucking bullshit!” Niall exclaimed, his head falling over the books on the table.

“What is it?” Liam asked, emerging from the kitchen with two cups of tea.

They decided they would study together because Niall got distracted easily when he was alone, and they tried studying together before and it worked pretty well, so why not? Not that their subjects were similar, but still. The only thing that distracted Niall a little was… well, Liam.

_(Niall had been studying for his maths test for about an hour when he started getting distracted by… anything really, he would just stare at a fly flying in front of him if it meant to stop studying ‘cause he was actually getting really bored, so Liam offered to study there in the living room too so he can watch Niall while he study for his… anatomy exam? Niall didn’t even know._

_At some point, Niall just started watching at Liam’s features, his brown soft hair and his eyes and how his brows furrowed in concentration while he study and his eyelashes and cheekbones and jawline that fuck, Liam had a nice one and his lips and-_

_“Take a picture, it’ll last longer” Liam’s voice interrupted his thoughts, he had a smirk on his face._

_“Wanker” Niall muttered going back to his maths exercises and Liam chuckled.)_

“I had a biology test by the end of the week and what the fuck is all this stuff, I don’t get it but I really need to pass this exams, I don’t want to fail.” Niall ended whining.

“Let me see,” Liam said, putting the mugs on the table and went to stand behind Niall to see what he was studying. He lowered himself, bending a little and flicked through the pages of Niall’s book and notebook, “is that all?” he asked and the blond nodded. It was basically from cells to the human body, “I can teach you all this stuff, it’s pretty easy.” He shrugged.

“It’s pretty easy” Niall said in a mocking voice, earning a slap on the back of the head from Liam that had him making an ‘ow!’ sound.

“Seriously, Niall, I can teach you this stuff, it’s like the base of what I’m studying if you think about it.”

Niall sighed, “I know, thanks, Li.”

“You’re welcome, babe,” the older boy smiled, “plus, I can’t think of some interesting ways of teaching you the human body.” He added with a wink and Niall chuckled but blushed. He had no idea why he kept on blushing every time Liam did any reference to sex after all this time.

Liam returned to his chair on the other side of the table, in front of Niall, and opened his book while sipping his tea.

After about an hour of studying for Liam and “studying” for Niall, or more like, try to memorize weird names and functions and making doodles in his notebook (that were supposed to be some organs, or cell, he wasn’t sure about it), he stated, “Liam, I fucking hate biology” with a serious face and Liam laughed.

*

The things between Harry and Louis were slowly going back to normal. Liam had told Niall and Zayn about what happened after his conversation with Harry but asked them not to tell them they knew, but they wanted to help them, whether they were going back to being friends or something more, none of them really mind and now that they were thinking about it, they had always been pretty close.

Of course Liam had a little talk with Louis after talking to Harry too. That day he told Niall he wouldn’t be having lunch with him before going to work because he wanted to talk to Louis as Harry wasn’t home in that moment. So he headed to his friend’s flat for lunch.

“And to what do I ought this visit to?” Louis asked as he stepped aside from his door to let Liam in.

“Can’t I just have a friendly lunch before going to work with one of my best mates?”

“Instead of being home fucking his boyfriend? Oh, let me see…” he said scratching his jaw as if thinking hard and Liam hit him playfully in the arm, “seriously, Liam, why are you here?”

Liam let out a sigh, “I need to talk to you about Harry.”

Liam could see how Louis tensed up and something he couldn’t really read flashed through the older lad’s eyes, but tried to keep it cool, “what- what about Harry?”

“Come on, Louis, I already know, you don’t need to play it cool.” Liam said with small smile.

Louis let out a sigh and closed his eyes for a second, “so he did tell you, huh?”

They walked towards the sofa and Louis let his body fell and hit the back of it, Liam sitting next to him, “yeah, he did… it isn’t a really big deal, Lou, I don’t know wh-“

“IT ISN’T A BIG DEAL?!” Louis yelled at him, “WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF I KISSED YOU?”

“Probably be shocked and then laugh at it,” Liam chuckled, “I don’t think Niall would be too happy though, he’ll snap at you.”

“It’s not funny, Liam, I-“ he cut himself.

“You what, Lou?”

“I- I think I liked it” the older boy said his voice almost a whisper as he looked down as if he was ashamed.

Liam smiled sympathetically at him, “so what? There’s nothing wrong about that, Lou.” He said, his voice soft.

“But- but we’ve been best friends for so long and this- this just fucks it all up, you know? I don’t want that.”

“First of all, I am offended, I’ve always been your best friend,” Liam said with a fake hurt face that made Louis chuckle and roll his eyes, “second, it doesn’t change anything, it’s like you are just trading what you had for something new, and if anything, being this apart is what fucks up your friendship.”

“You think so?” Louis asked, just lifting his gaze from his lap now.

“Yeah, Lou, you should just give it a try,” Liam said with a shrug, “I’m not telling you to go and ask him to be your boyfriend and just date, but just, give it a chance, at least talk to him, let him know what you think, what you feel and let him tell you how he’s feeling.”

Louis smiled at him, “wow, that blond did change you, mate” he said mockingly and Liam punched his arm, “but I mean, you’re right, I- I’ll think about it, yeah?”

“Okay, I just want to see the two of you happy, that’s all” he smiled at his friend, “now, how about lunch before I go to work?” he asked and went to stand up but he felt some kind of dizziness and almost fell backwards but Louis grabbed him.

“You alright there, Li?” he asked with a worried frown.

“Yeah, yeah-“ Liam said holding his head in his arms, “just felt dizzy for a moment, guess I just stood up too fast or something. I’m fine.”

Louis nodded and let him go and the two of them walked into the kitchen to eat.

*

When Liam came back home at night, he could hear Niall talking on the phone to someone as he closed the door.

“… no, but wait, did you write your password there?” Niall said and Liam saw him sitting on the couch with his laptop in front of him.

Liam approached him from behind and placed a kiss on the top of the blond’s hair and the boy turned to see him, “can you wait a minute?” he asked whoever he was talking on the phone and then covered his phone with his hand, “hi, Li” he smiled big at him and then pursed his lips together waiting for Liam to kiss him, the older boy chuckled but leaned and pecked him and then went around the sofa to sit next to him. He felt kind of dizzy again but didn’t show it because he didn’t want to worry Niall, and not just now that he was looking so happy.

“You came just in time, Li, I’ve convinced Greg to made an Skype account so we can talk!” Niall said happily.

“That’s great, Ni! Are you going to talk to him now?” It was really great, and it made Liam happy to see the blond boy happy, he smiled a lot more since he started talking to his brother and he even told him stories from when he was little, in other words, he was being a lot more open about his past life with him, so he was getting to know Niall better. He just hoped his parents would be ready to talk to him soon.  

“Yeah, we’re trying to do that,” he answered Liam and went back to talk to his phone before hanging up a minute later. “Okay, so,” Niall said taking a large breathe, “here we go.” He said, more to himself than to Liam, and logged into Skype, adding his brother’s account on it and pressing a call button.

Liam could see how nervous his boyfriend was, and he had his reasons, he hadn’t seen his brothers in more than two years, and this, this was something, kind of like… a reunion.

“Do you want some time alone so you can talk to him?” Liam asked and Niall took his hand in his and squeezed it and look at him with a nervous face.

“No, please, don’t leave me” Niall told him.

“Alright, I’m not going anywhere, I was just asking.” Liam smiled sweetly at him and then a face appeared on the laptop screen.

“Niall?” the voice said.

“Hey Greg,” Niall said and couldn’t help but smile big at his brother’s face. He hadn’t seen him in so long, he forgot he missed him so much. “You look just the same.”

“I’d say the same about you but you don’t, you’re not a boy anymore, look at yourself Niall, you’ve grown so much,” Niall’s brother said, a pinch of affection in his voice.

“Yeah, well… I’m twenty now, mature as ever” Niall said making them all laugh.

When they stopped laughing, Greg cleared his voice and his eyes moved to Liam, “so… I guess you’re Liam, then?”

“Yes, yes I am,” Liam nodded, “it’s nice to finally put a face to that voice.”

Greg laughed, “same here, mate.”

And then Ash entered the living room barking happily when he saw Liam, and jumped to his lap, after all, he was not even two months yet so he was still pretty small, plus, he was a beagle, so he was never going to be a very big dog anyways.

“Hello there, Ash” Liam said to the puppy now sitting on his lap, looking at him with happy eyes and moving his tail.

“Oh, so that is your pet,” Greg said, “I thought it was a bigger dog, but now that I think about it, his barking sounded as if he were still a puppy.”

“Yeah, he’ll be two months in less than two weeks,” Niall added and patted Ash in the head.

Niall’s brother smiled from the other side of the screen, “you look happy, little bro, I’m happy for you, I know- I know you don’t want to talk about these past few years so I’m not going to push you, I hope you can tell me about it some day.”

Niall half smiled at him, “maybe I will, there’s no point though,” Liam could see how his eyes went a bit sad but it was gone before Greg could notice it, “so… how are mum and dad?” Niall asked.

“Oh! About that… I don’t know how, but I managed to convince them to talk to you.” Greg smiled.

Niall’s eyes went wide and turned to look at Liam, then to the screen again, “Really?!”

“Yeah… Probably now that I have this Skype thing you can see them, but whenever you’re ready, bro, no pressure.”

“I- wow, that’s- that’s good. Have you told them about Liam though?”

“I didn’t because it’s not my place to tell them,” he said, “but I did asked what if you were with a boy, like, how would they react, like a rhetorical question, you know?”

“And what did they say?” Niall asked but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer to that.

“Mum was good about it, she said she’ll love you anyways because that doesn’t change the fact of who you are, right? I mean, you’re still Niall, ‘her little boy’”, he laughed, “ and dad was like… kind of hesitant at first but accepted it right away, he said that if you were happy then he could deal with it.”

“Wow.” Niall said and turned his head to look at Liam, “you heard that, Li?”

“I did, that is awesome, Ni, your parents are rad.” He smiled.

“I think they knew though,” Greg added, “when I asked them, like, they knew I was asking them for a reason.”

“But still they accepted it.” Niall said and smiled a little.

“You’ll have to face them later though, Ni, I don’t think it’ll go wrong, but still, it’ll be good if you’d told them yourself.”

“I will, just- when are you seeing them again?”

“Uhm… probably on the weekend?”

“Alright, then, I don’t know, let me know and maybe we can use this again and I can talk to them?”

“Yeah, that’s good, I’ll text them later and I’ll let you know when, see if you’re home by that time.”

“Okay, thanks bro.”

“No problem. I need to get going now, Denisse should be here at any moment.”

“Denisse?” Niall asked, “as in, Denisse from when I still lived there?”

“Yeah, we’re together now, haven’t I already told you that?” he asked, Niall shook his head, “well, she’s been my girlfriend for more than a year now, she’s coming for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, alright then, I should let you go, have a good week, Greg!” he smiled.

“You too, bro! Same goes for you, Liam. Take care boys!”

Then they said their goodbyes and the screen went black. Niall closed the laptop and rest his head on Liam’s shoulder, “so that went better than I expected.” He commented.

“Again.” Liam added, remembering how the blond had said the same thing the first time he called Greg.

“Again.” Niall smiled. “So, how about dinner now?”

“How about dinner in bed? I’m tired.” Liam said with a pout.

“Liam, seriously, I’m forcing you to go to the doctor, you’ve been tired for at least a month, you need to get checked.”

“Am not, I feel perf-“ he said standing up quickly and then fell to the floor.

“Liam?!” Niall yelled at him, “come on, Li, get up, baby” he said grabbing Liam’s arm but he wasn’t moving and his eyes were closed and, _did he just fainted?!_

*

“Niall!” the blond head Louis’ voice from the other side of the corridor. He was sitting in a chair, right next to room were Liam was being checked by a doctor.

He had called an ambulance as soon as he noticed Liam wasn’t moving and he freaked out, literally, he didn’t know what to do. He told the woman that spoke to her what happened, that he had been tired lately and had headaches but today he just fainted out of nowhere. So they sent an ambulance (which got there in less than five minutes, thank God because Niall would have snapped if they made him wait), and were rushed to the hospital. And as soon as they took Liam inside a room and told Niall to wait, he had called Louis’ to let him know what happened with a trembling voice, not crying yet, but he was in the verge of doing it, and asked him to tell Zayn and Harry to get there too. Louis and Harry were the first to show up though.

“Hey,” Niall smiled slightly at them with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“How is him?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know, the doctor hasn’t been out yet, but he hasn’t been there for long either so.” He finished saying with a shrug and a tired sigh.

“But what happened?” this time Louis asked.

“I don’t know, we were- we were talking with my brother through-“

“Are you talking with your family?” Louis asked with a surprised face, “that is wonderful!”

“Yeah… yeah it is,” Niall said with a little smile, “we’ve been talking for some time, but just him, not my parents yet.” His smile faltered.

“Don’t worry, hey, they’ll get to it,” Harry told him.

“I guess,” he shrugged, “well, we were talking to him and then were I finished the call I said we should have dinner and he asked if we could have dinner in bed cause he was tired and I told him he should go to the doctor cause he has been feeling tired and having headaches for like a month and he suddenly stood up and wanted to say he was perfect but fainted mid sentence and then fell to the floor, and at first I thought he was joking but he didn’t move and I started freaking out so I called an ambulance and here we are now.” Niall said rushing his last words.

“That happened today at my flat too, I mean- he didn’t faint but he was dizzy and almost fell but I catch him before he could, I asked him if he was okay and he said he was so we just went and had lunch- jeez, I should have paid more attention.”

“It’s okay, Lou, it’s not your fault.” Harry said, rubbing the older boy’s back and Niall could see a slight blush on Louis’ cheeks. The blond thought it was cute though, well, they were cute. Were him and Liam that cute too? He shook his head, _Liam._

He was about to speak when the doctor came out of the room, “he’s fine, I took some blood samples I need to test right now, I’ll be back later with the results. I have a theory about what happened but I need to check first. He just woke up if you want to see him, I’ll need to ask him some questions when I’m back.”

The boys nodded and thanked the doctor and went to open the door of Liam’s room when they heard someone calling them.

“Hey!” the boys turned to see Zayn almost running towards them, “sorry I’m late, I- I was at a c-class and then the- the traffic” he stated in between pants.

“Jesus Zayn,  you really need to stop smoking.” Louis said and the dark haired boy rolled his eyes at him but mentally acknowledging it was true.

“So what happened?” Zayn asked now that he had caught his breath.

Niall sighed, he had to explain it all over again, so he chose to do a sum up, “so basically Liam had been very tired lately and had headaches and apparently he was feeling very dizzy today and I don’t know what happened but he just fainted.”

Zayn frowned, “can we see him?”

“Yes, we were about to enter.” Niall said nodding towards the door.

“Let’s go in there then.”

Liam turned his head to the side and looked at the door opening to see Niall and his three friends entering the room.

“Hey,” he said smiling at them but his voice was hoarse. He was tired but he felt good, his head didn’t hurt anymore and he wasn’t feeling dizzy, or maybe that was because he was lying on the bed.

Niall walked towards him and stood by the bed, looking down at him but not touching him, just staring.

“Ni?” he asked tentatively.

“You wanker!” Niall exclaimed almost shouting and punched him in the shoulder.

“Ow!” Liam exclaimed and rubbed his shoulder.

“You scared the shit out of me, Liam!” Niall talked again trying to sound upset but it came out as if he was almost scared.

“Hey, don’t be too hard with him, it’s not his fault, Niall.” Louis told him.

“It’s it though.” Niall said with a serious face.

“I’m sorry.” Liam said softly and looked down.

“I think we should wait outside,” Zayn commented and grabbed his other two friends outside the room.

Niall sighed and sat in the chair next to Liam’s bed.

“I’m sorry, Ni, don’t be mad at me.” Liam’s voice was soft almost scared but doubted because what is wrong with Niall?

“I’m not mad at you, Liam,” he stated and looked at him in the eyes, “well, maybe I am a little.”

“How’s that? I’m the one in a hospital bed and you’re mad?” the older boy said, moving his gaze up until his eyes met Niall’s ones.

“You ended up here because you wanted! I told you a million times to go see a doctor so they can prescribe you something, why are you so stubborn?” Niall said, his voice raising up, but then added in a softer voice, “it’s like you don’t even take into account what I say sometimes, I care a lot about you, Liam, and I noticed something was wrong but you didn’t pay attention to me.”

“I’m sorry, Ni, I never meant to make you feel that way, I just didn’t think it was something so serious, I’m sorry you felt like that,” he told Niall and move his hand for the blond to take because he couldn’t really move it a lot because of that thing coming out of his arm.

Niall took Liam’s hand in his, “I’m sorry I snapped at you, Li,” he said sheepishly, lifting the older boy’s hand to his lips and placed a kiss on his knuckles. “Should I call your parents and let them know?”he asked.

“No!” he exclaimed, “No, please, don’t. I don’t want them to worry, especially my mum.” Niall was about to open his mouth to talk but was cut off by the door being opened and a doctor walking inside the room; Louis, Harry and Zayn following.

“How are you feeling?” the doctor asked Liam.

“I’m okay, my head doesn’t hurt anymore, I’m just tired, but that’s not news.” He shrugged.

“We gave you something for your head, that’s why it doesn’t hurt right now,” the doctor explained, “now, I ran a blood test and confirmed my theory, there’s this virus going around, nothing contagious, so you boys don’t need to worry about it, and it’s actually something we have in our bodies, but your test showed its level is very high. This virus causes fatigue, that’s why you’re always tired, and headaches and dizziness, that’s why you fainted. How long have you been feeling like this?”

“Uhm…” Liam started before being cut by Niall.

“For like a month, maybe a little more.” The blond stated.

“You should have came here sooner, son.” The doctor told Liam and Niall looked at him with a ‘told you’ look.

“Now, you’ll have to take some vitamins, not any meds cause this it’s supposed to be gone in a couple of months-“

“A couple of months?!” Liam and Niall asked at the same time.

“Yes, three to six months is usually the period, I know it’s a lot but that’s how it works. You will feel a lot better when you start taking your vitamins, I’ll prescribe them for you, what we don’t want is for you to get the chronic fatigue syndrome.” The doctor informed and Liam nodded, “now, I need to ask you some questions to see if there’s something else that can cause you any trouble, alright?”

“Okay.”

“So, about your diet, do you eat fruits and vegetables?” Liam nodded and the doctor wrote it down. “Meat?” Liam nodded again. “Carbohydrates? Milk?”

“Yes, yes, everything.” Liam answered.

“Okay, that’s good then. Do you drink tea or coffee?”

“Both of them, I’m more of a tea person except when I have to study or when I have too much work, then I drink way too much coffee maybe.”

“Alright, that’s something you’ll need to change then, you can drink coffee but please control the amount you consume.” Liam nodded again. “So, you study and work then? Both things?”

Liam let out a sigh, “yeah.”

“You’ll have to skip classes and work for two or three days until you’re feeling better again, I’ll give you a doctor’s note so you won’t get into trouble.”

“Thanks.” Liam said smiling and actually happy that he’ll get to stay home for two or three days.

“Now, do you exercise?”

“Yeah, I go to the gym whenever I can-“

“You go everyday.” Niall cut him off.

“Okay, yes, I go everyday,” he said with a sigh and glared at Niall. He liked the gym, okay? It helped him release the tension.

“Okay, you’ll have to watch that too then. What do you do there?”

“A little bit of everything, but mainly box.”

“Alright, try to go just a couple of days a week for these next months until you’re good enough again, alright?” Liam nodded, “Sex?”

“I’m sorry?” Liam asked and Niall’s eyes went wide while the other boys that had stayed silent during the whole questions thing, chuckled.

“Oi! Shut up you lots!” Niall scowled at them.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” the doctor said, still scribbling things down and trying to hide the smirk on his face. “Can you boys wait outside the room for a minute?” the doctor asked Louis, Zayn and Harry, and then all nodded, a bit confused as to why were they being asked to go outside but did nonetheless.

When the door was closed behind the last of the boys, the doctor turned to Liam and Niall, who were also clearly confused as to what was what the doctor was going to tell them that needed their friends outside. “Nothing’s wrong, don’t worry,” the doctor said, “but I just saw that you were not very comfortable with talking about sex with them here so I asked them to go out, now you don’t have to tell me how many times a week or a day you have sex but-“

“Wait but how- how did you know we’re together?” Niall asked, his cheeks red.

“Because you wouldn’t let go of him when the paramedics brought him here,” the doctor stated, “and I guess it’s in the way you look at each other, I know it doesn’t sound very professional, but you asked. I’ve been your age too, boys, I know.”

Liam and Niall smiled sympathetically at the doctor, who they thought was very cool, thanks, before the blond could speak, “thanks for not thinking it’s gross or something” his voice soft and with a shy smile.

“Oh, no worries, we can’t help who we love, can we?” he said with a smile, and then went serious again, “now, back to the main topic, it’s scientifically proved that sex is good for the body, physically and emotionally, the thing here is, Mr. Payne you’re not in position to do activities that can risk you having you here again, that’s why I’ll have to ask you to control yourselves, I’m not asking you to stop having sexual intercourse, that would be asking for the impossible, but just be careful, alright? Sex takes a lot of energy and even though it feels good it also causes a lot of tiredness afterwards.”

“Okay, we can manage that, right?” Liam asked, looking at Niall.

“Yeah, we can.” The blond answered with a smile.

“Okay, now that is all settled, I’ll prescribe you your vitamins and you’re free to go home. Don’t hesitate to come back and see me if something happens, alright?”

“Will do, thanks a lot, Doctor.” Liam said.

After a minute, the doctor handed Liam his prescription and headed out of the room and the other three boys entered the room again.

“What was that all about?” Harry asked.

“Nothing to worry, everything’s fine.” Liam smiled.

Just then, a nurse entered the room with a paper, “Mr. Payne, I’ll need you to sign this up so you can go home.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Liam said, taking the paper the nurse was handing him and signing them before handing them back.

“Alright, you’re free to go then, be careful!” the nurse said with a smile before heading outside the door.

“Alright then, let’s take you home.” Niall said, helping Liam out of the hospital’s bed.

*

Liam stayed home for three days after the day in the hospital, and Niall skipped classes the three days to stay home with Liam, which was making the older boy fucking difficult not to want to press him into the mattress and fucking him senseless. But Niall was being careful with what he was doing around Liam, not too much touching or too much kissing even though he was dying for it but if that meant Liam getting better then he could go back to his left hand for a while.

After five days, Liam decided to speak his mind, “Niall, you know we can have sex, right?”

“Nope. No, we can’t, Liam.”

“Are you going to deprive me of having sex with my boyfriend?” Liam asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep.”

“Niaaaaaalll!” Liam exclaimed and moved to straddle the blond as they were in bed and tickled him.

“Noooo, Liam! No t- tickling, p- please!”

“That’s what you get for being mean to me and not giving me what I want!” he said moving his hands and tickling the blond everywhere.

“No, no- Liam, please stop-“ Niall said while laughing and writhing behind Liam, he just couldn’t take it anymore, “please Liam, okay- okay, I’ll do it, please s- stop.”

Liam stopped then, “you’re not lying?”

Niall scowled at him, “why would I be lying, you think I like wanking better than having sex?” he raised an eyebrow. “What do you want then?” he smirked.

“You.” He smirked as he lowered himself and attacked the blond’s lips.

Well, you know what happened next, but if you want a hint: Liam got what he wanted.

*

It was now Sunday, a peaceful day and the boys decided to stay at home and watch movies and eat delicious food Niall felt like cooking.

They were about to start watching a movie when Niall’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he took it out to see who it was.

_From: Greg_

_Mum and dad are home, can you talk right now?_

His eyes widened, “Li.” The blond said, grabbing the older boy’s arm.

“What is it, Ni?” he asked worried.

“Greg says I can talk to my parents now.”

“Baby, that’s great!” Liam said taking Niall’s hand in his and squeezing it.

“I- I don’t know if I’m ready, I don’t know if I can do it.” the blond said nervous.

“Yes, you can, babe, you’re strong and everything is going to be fine, you know it will.” Liam smiled at him.

“You staying here with me?”

“I think it’ll be better if you talk to them first by yourself, I think you need to tell them about us first before I talk to them.”

“I- I- fuck. Okay, okay, I can do this.” He said, more to himself.

“You’ll do great, Ni.” Liam reassured him, placing a kiss on the blond’s lips, who move to chase the older boy’s lips when he pulled away, making him chuckle. “Come on then, text your brother and tell him you’re up to talk.”

“Alright.” Niall said, writing a text message quickly and sending it before grabbing his laptop and placing it in front of him, the Skyp already in the screen.

“Hey, Li?”

“Yeah?”

“As much as I love your body, I think you should put a shirt on if you’re going to talk to my parents.” He chuckled.

“Oh, yes- shit, you’re right,” Liam said, running a hand through his hair and standing up to head to his bedroom, “I’ll just stand there while you talk to them, you just tell me when I can come in, alright?”

“Alright then.” Niall took a deep breath and press the call button on his laptop and moment later, Greg’s face appeared on the screen.

“What’s up, little bro?” he smiled.

“Hey Greg,” he smiled but his smile faltered because of his nerves, “I’m good, how about you?”

“I’m good, good.” He answered, “hey, everything will be fine, alright, I’ll stay here with them, now I’m gonna call them in, okay? You ready?”

Niall took a deep breath again and shut his eyes for a moment before opening them again, “I am, let’s do this” he smiled.

The blond saw his brother stand up and a minute later he saw two faces in front of the screen he hasn’t seen in a long time. He just sat there, in front of the screen, staring at them.

“Niall?” that was his mother, her voice soft, like she was too emotional, almost broken.

Niall smiled a little at her, “hi mum” he answered. Great, now he was getting emotional. “Dad?” he asked, moving his eyes on the screen to lock eyes with his father’s blue eyes.

“Hello, son” he said in a serious tone but couldn’t stop the smile that was forming on his face, “haven’t seen you or known about you in so long, how’ve you been?”

“I’m good, dad, thank you. How about you and mum? Are you okay?”

“We are, Ni, we missed you so much, we’ve been horrible parents, Ni, please forgive us.” His mother told him.

“Everything’s fine mum, I’m okay, I’m happy Greg got you to talk to me again, I’ve been missing you all a lot lately.”

“Have you been thinking of coming back?” his mother asked with a hint of hope in her voice.

“I… I don’t think so, mum, at least not for now, I’m sorry,” he said looking down.

“Is alright, son, don’t worry,” his father said, giving him a reassuring little smile, “we can’t expect you to talk to us and just want to come back immediately, but we’re happy you’re okay. Where are you by the way?”

“I’m in London.” The blond answered, already knowing he was about to have to deal with a lot of questions.

“And what’ve you been up to all this time?”

“I- I don’t want to talk about that,” he said, “you’ll be so ashamed of me, you don’t need to know yet.” Niall finished already looking down again. Why was this so difficult?

“Oh, come on, what could have been so terrible? You know you can talk to us, honey.” his mother spoke.

“No. No, really, I don’t really want to tell you yet.”

“You’re scaring me, Niall.” His mother said, sounding worried.

“No! No, you don’t need to worry, I’m fine now, I’m happy with L-“ he cut himself before he could finish.

“With?” his mother asked him.

Niall let out a sigh and moved his gaze to where Liam was standing, looking at him and the older boy smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up. “I need to tell you guys something, alright?” the blond told his parents.

“Okay…?” both of his parents said at the same time.

“I- I’m dating a boy,” he said slowly, “I have a boyfriend.”

None of his parents said anything for a minute, just stared at him, their expressions blank. They didn’t seem mad about it but Niall just could read them, let alone over a computer screen.

“Mum?” he asked softly, “dad?”

“I-“ his dad said but his mother cut him off.

“It’s okay, honey, we don’t care as long as you’re happy, right Bobby?” she said turning her head to look at his husband.

“Yes, yes, of course” he said and smiled at his son.

Niall let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding, “good, thank you.”

“Can we meet him?” he heard his mother ask.

“I- sure, sure.” Niall told them and look at Liam and nodded at him and the older boy walked over the couch and sat next to him. “So…” he started, shit, this was awkward, “mum, dad, this is Liam. Li, this is mum, Maura, and he’s my dad, Bobby, and you already know Greg” he said, looking at Greg who was sitting with his parents but haven’t said a word during the whole conversation.

“Hello, Liam, it’s nice to meet you” Niall’s father said.

“It’s nice to meet you too, sir” he smiled at him, “it’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Horan.” He added moving his eyes on the screen to Niall’s mother.

“Hello, Liam, it’s our pleasure to meet you,” she smiled at him, “how did you and my son meet?”

“I, uhm-“ Liam started but was cut off by Niall before he could even thing about what to say.

“We met last year, because of a, uh, friend.” Niall lied, he wasn’t about going to tell them how they met, hopefully he won’t ever have to.

“Oh,” his father said, “we didn’t know you, uhm, liked boys.” Bobby said, sounding a little hesitant about saying it.

“I- I didn’t- I didn’t know either, I guess it’s just him?” he said shyly.

Liam looked down and tried to suppress the smile on his face.

“Well, I guess some things in life are unexpected, but there’s nothing wrong about that, I mean, as long as you’re happy. Are you happy, Niall?” that was his mother.

“Very.” The blond told them and looked at Liam in the eye, the older boy could see those blue eyes he loved so much sparkling with love, he couldn’t help but beam at him.

Niall’s father cleared his throat then, interrupting their moment, “well, that’s… that’s good then.” He nodded, clearly not very comfortable about the way they were looking at each other but Niall was thankful he understood him.

“Thanks dad. Thank you both, actually, for accepting it.”

“It’s nothing, baby, we don’t want to lose you again now that we just got you back, and over something that shouldn’t even be questioned.”

The blond lad couldn’t help but smile at his mother’s words, “thank you mum.”

“You should think about coming here to visit at least, we would be very happy to have you here, you can bring Liam if you want to,” his mother told him, “when the semester finishes so you don’t interrupt your studying. You’re studying, right Niall?” his mother asked, a little more serious this time, she had always wanted him to study.

“Actually I, uhm, I’m finishing high school…” he said embarrassed, “I never had the chance to do it when I first came here these past years but Liam convinced me to do it.” he smiled sheepishly. Telling them about it, that was something he could do, they might get pissed, yeah, but there was no point in hiding that.

“Oh, Niall,” her mother said, her voice cracking, “I- I didn’t know, I’m so sorry,” she swallowed a sob, “all of this is our fault, you couldn’t even get a chance, I’m so sorry, baby, so sorry.” She said starting to cry. His father putting an arm around her shoulders while she covered her face with her hands.

“I’m sorry, son.” His father said too, his voice sad.

“No, please, mum don’t cry, I can’t stand it when you cry, please, it’s not any of your fault, I did this to myself, please, mum.” He said, his eyes starting to get watery.

Liam put a hesitant arm on Niall’s back and run it up and down, trying to give his boyfriend some kind of comfort but was trying to be careful, he didn’t know how his parents would react about them.

“I think that’s enough for now,” Greg spoke for the first time, “alright guys? Please all of you stop crying, be thankful you got to talk again.”

Maura brushed the tears of her cheeks and Niall nodded at his brother’s words.

“We’ll call you again soon, okay bro?” Greg said and Niall nodded. “Bye Ni, bye Liam.” he smiled at them.

“Bye Greg,” he told him, “bye mum and dad, I’m so happy to see you again, I’ll think about visiting soon, alright? Please don’t cry anymore, mum, I’m fine, okay?”

“Alright,” his mother said and smiled, her eyes a little red from crying and still a bit watery, “bye, Niall, I love you.”

“I love you too, mum. Bye dad, love you too.”

“Take care, Niall.” He told him with a smile, “you too, Liam.” he nodded at the older boy.

“Thank you, sir, same to you and Mrs. Horan, it was good to meet you.”

“Please take care of our son for us, Liam,” Maura said, “bye” she waved at him with a small smile.

“Will do,” he smiled, “goodbye.”

And then the call was over.

Niall sighed and turn to Liam, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him hard, burying his head in the crook of his neck, starting to cry, “that went great,” he said with a sarcastic tone, “I haven’t seen them in two years and I already managed to make my mum cry,” his voice sounding muffled against Liam’s skin and his tears already starting to wet the older boy’s shirt, while his arms were wrapped tightly around the blond’s waist, “I’m a horrible son, I hate myself.”

“Don’t say that, Niall, you’re amazing,” he said placing a kiss on the blond’s head, “that actually went a lot better than we could’ve imagined, they are not mad at you, or me, or us, and they don’t blame you for anything. It’s just natural that they feel that way towards you, but you’re so strong, baby, so strong, you did so good.”

Niall’s cry ceased, leaving space just for sobs to leave his lips, “thanks Li, really, I can’t thank you enough for being by my side while doing this, you’re my rock.”

“Always, Ni, I will always be your rock, you don’t need to thank me.”

Niall then unwrapped his arms from the older boy’s neck and kissed him on the lips. Niall’s lips tasted salty from the tears, but he kissed him back anyways, and brushed away the tears from the blond’s cheeks with his thumbs.

“What about a nap now?” Liam asked when they’d pulled away, “Ash is sleeping in our bed and I think he could use some company, the movie can wait until later, yeah?”

Niall nodded and pecked him once again, before they both stood up and walked to the room when they slept together, Niall’s arms around Liam’s middle wrapped so tight as if he wanted to melt their bodies together and Liam holding him as if his life depended on it, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be clear, I didn't make up the whole virus thing, it is real and I know people that suffer from that, I just suck at explaining that kind of things so please don't be too hard on me.  
> Now, two exams this week but hopefully I'll update after that, hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think! (: x


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I thought I couldn’t love you more but you just keep on making me fall for you a little more every day, Liam, how is that even possible?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *liam's voice* Helloooooo! I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long! Studying was busying me around, but hey, I got a 92% yesterday so here, have a new chapter 'cause I'm happy, yayyy.

It was the end of the semester (‘fucking finally’, Niall’s words) and thanks to God, even if Niall isn’t sure if he does believe in him, he passed all his exams and he was now free of school and ready to study whatever he wanted, which is, to be a chef.

Liam, was too happy and relieved that uni was over for the moment, he passed all his exams too and he couldn’t be any prouder of himself, he managed to work, study and get a boyfriend and a pet in a year. He wasn’t going to deny it was hard at first, and with being tired all the time and when he had to go to the hospital thing, he kind of thought he’ll have to stop doing one of those things, but he wanted to get all done, so that’s what he did. And the vitamins were helping a lot too.

Today was Niall’s last day of school, and his school was organizing a small ceremony at night where they’ll receive their diplomas. They didn’t have a prom night because well… most people were already adults and they weren’t into those things anymore. Niall would have like a prom night though, but there was no point in getting mad about that, he was happy with what he had.

“You ready for your last day of school, babe?” Liam said entering the kitchen for breakfast as Niall sat down.

“Yeah… I can’t believe this is over though, it happened so fast.”

“I know, but now you’ll get to do what you really want to, that’s a great feeling.”

“Yes, I’m so excited, I already looked for places where I can go next semester, I still have to choose though.”

“Well, not that I want to discourage you but there isn’t a lot of time before the registrations closes, so you’ll have to pick soon.” Liam said, chewing on a piece of toast.

The blond let out a sigh, “I know, I know, I’ll get to it during this week.”

“I know you will.” Liam smiled at him.

*

Niall was already suited up, sitting in the sofa in the living room, waiting for Liam who was doing who knows what in the bathroom, but about to get ready to go with Niall to get his diploma.

“Liaaaam, come on, we’re going to be late!” Niall yelled at him, he just couldn’t contain his anxiety, he was a very anxious person, he just wanted to be there.

“I’m coming, jeez, chill out, Ni.” Liam said, walking out of the bathroom.

“Nooooooo!” Niall exclaimed when he saw his boyfriend and immediately stood up from when he was sitting and walked towards Liam and put his hand in his face, “what happened to your stubble?!” he almost yelled.

“I don’t know, I just felt like I would look better and a little more formal without it?”

“But I liked your stubble.” Niall said with a pouty face, making Liam chuckle.

“It would be back in a couple of days, don’t worry, babe.” The older boy said and kissed Niall. Then pulled away and looked at him, “I’ve never seen you in a suit, you look good.” He said with a raised eyebrow.

“Why, thank you, Liam, you look good too” Niall teased back and winked at him.

Liam rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but smile, “shall we go then?”

“Yeah, yeah, come on, let’s go!”

*

The car ride to the school was pretty much Niall singing to every song on the radio, something he did very often, but today Liam could see how happy he was, he was glowing, the smile on his face was the biggest he’s ever seen and his eyes were shining so bright, he felt like he wanted to drown in them.

When they got there, people was already walking and running everywhere, bouncing with excitement, and Niall said hello and talked to some people he’s made “friends” with during this semester and of course, introducing Liam to everyone. Truth was, he wasn’t that kind of people to be ashamed to have a boyfriend, he didn’t care what people thought of him and he was actually very proud of Liam, he was the best that has happened to him so far. Luckily, no one said anything to them and everyone was happy.

The ceremony was hold in the school’s auditorium, it wasn’t as big as a proper high school one, but it was big enough. The students were sitting at the front, while their families and friends were sitting at the back. The Director was calling everyone by his name to go in the stage to go get their diplomas.

 Soon enough, Niall’s name was called and when he walked up to the stage to accept his diploma and shake the Director’s hand, he turned his face to look at Liam and smiled at him, and just then noticed his other three friends as Liam’s family there. His smile grew a little wider, if that was even possible by now.

By the time the ceremony ended, and everyone was going back to their families, waving goodbye at the friends they made in there, Niall walked over to his friends and hugged each of them one by one.

“I didn’t know you guys were coming, thank you.” He said with a sincere smile on his face.

“Are you kidding? We wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Louis said with a big smile on his face.

Then Niall turned around to greet Liam’s family, hugging all of them too. Karen might have squeezed him a little, but he wasn’t going to complain, actually, he smiled at her.

“I- wow, I didn’t know you were coming either, you didn’t have to, thank you so, so much.”

“Aw, come on, Niall, how could we not? Liam talks about nothing but you all the time and how smart you are and how good you were doing and school, and we couldn’t miss such an important event in your life, you’re like family now!” Ruth, Liam’s sister told him. He turned to look at Liam with a light blush but a small smile on his face to see a blushing Liam, glaring at his sister and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Thank you guys, you are amazing, you’re like family to me too.” He said and Liam’s sisters both went for a hugh, making Niall laugh again.

He couldn’t be any more thankful for all these people, they accepted him into his life so easily and with opened arms and loved him as a part of his family and wow, it was something amazing, he wasn’t used to being so loved.

“Oh, come on, girls, let the boy breathe,” Geoff said and went to shake his hand when the girls pulled away and then he put a hand on his shoulder, “congratulations, son, you deserve this.”

“Thanks, Mr. Pa- Geoff.” He smiled at him.

Niall remembered the awkward situation in which Geoff told him he could call him by his name.

_(“You don’t have to call me like that, Niall, someday we’ll be family, when you two are married,” Geoff said, pointing at him and Liam, “and then it would be weird if you grew accustomed to call me like that, better get used to my name, huh?” he said with a smile and little laugh._

_Niall’s face had gone red as ever and then Liam let out a groan and hid his face between his hands, making Niall laugh and run a hand up and back his back in comfort.)_

“So, what are you guys going to do tonight? Are you going out?” Karen asked.

“Uhm, we haven’t thought about that,” Niall said and looked at Liam, “what are we doing?”

“Don’t know,” Liam shrugged, “maybe we can go have a nice family dinner and then go out with the boys?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Alright then, let’s go then.” Karen said with a big smile.

*

It was no secret Niall loved Liam’s family and he appreciated them a lot, but during dinner he was surprised by how well he got along with everyone. How easy it was for him to hold a conversation with any of them without feeling weird or out of place.

The dinner was delicious, they had gone to some fancy restaurant (Liam’s parents insisted in paying even though Liam said no a thousand times but they ended up doing it anyways), and they talked about everything and nothing, how Liam was doing in uni and Niall’s plans for the future. They all supported his choice of becoming a chef as they had all had the chance to try Niall’s food during Christmas.

By the time they all headed out of the restaurant, they all went to Liam and Niall’s flat so the boys could get changed into some comfortable clothes to go out, because they were still wearing suits when they had dinner with Liam’s family.

“Where’s your family staying?” Niall asked his boyfriend as he tried to choose what shirt he wanted to wear.

“Uhm, here, I told them they could stay here.” Liam commented.

“Great, there goes my hopes for drunk celebration sex” Niall muttered under his breath and Liam couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I’m sorry, babe, but they asked if they could stay here just for the weekend, and I barely see them during the year so I-“ he couldn’t get to finish his sentence before being cut by a pair of lips against his own.

“It’s fine, Li, really.” the blond said when he pulled away, “I know you miss them,” Niall said to him with an understanding smile, “but you better make it up to me later.” His smile turning into a smug smirk and winked at him.

*

By the time they were almost home from the bar they’ve been that night, or more like, Liam dragging Niall due to his drunkness across the building’s corridor to get him to their flat’s door, Niall had tried to convince Liam to go to some random place (and by random means, from the bar’s bathroom to a some motel) so they can have sex, and Liam turned him down every time.

“I’m going to ask you one last time,” Niall asked, pinning Liam to the wall right next to the door, “can we go somewhere else?” his words slurred and his accent thick.

Liam could smell the amount of alcohol in Niall’s breath and that wasn’t one of his favorite things if you asked him, but damn, Niall was making a good work of turning him on by running his hands under Liam’s shirt and trying to grind his hips against him.

“No,” Liam said, sounding as firm as he could, “we’re already here, Ni, and you’re drunk as fuck, come on, I’ll make it up to you later, alright?” Liam said kissing him, which was a terrible mistake cause then Niall groaned and almost tried to get Liam out of his clothes right there. The older boy just chuckled and pulled him away, pretty easily considering the state the blond was in.

Liam opened the door, and turned to look at Niall and put a finger against his lips, “my sisters are sleeping in the living room so be quiet, can you?” Liam then noticed Niall looked pale as ever, “oh no, wait, shit-“ he said, taking him by the hand and getting them both inside their flat, closing the door quickly but trying not to make any noise and then hurried them both to the bathroom where Niall instantly sunk to his knees by the toilet seat and emptied his stomach in it. Liam shook his head at the sight and sighed, running his hand through the blond’s back to comfort him.

When Niall was done, Liam handed him his toothbrush and toothpaste, “brush your teeth and go to bed, I’ll get you some water.” Liam said, opening the bathroom door and heading to the kitchen to look for a glass of water.

“I’m sorry, Li.” Niall said while he was getting into bed and Liam handed him the glass of water.

“What for?” Liam frowned.

“I know how much you hate it when I’m drunk, and I know you hate to take care of me when I’m like this.”

Liam rolled his eyes while getting into bed too, “you’re being silly, I love taking care of you no matter what, every time, Ni.” He told him while putting his arms around the blond’s shoulders. Niall let out a content sigh and snuggled closer before letting sleep take over.

*

When Niall woke up in the morning, he could feel his mouth dry and his breath was surely terrible. How did they get home last night? He tried sitting up in bed and his head started spinning and he almost fell out of bed when two strong arms held him in place.

“Woah there, take it easy.” A sleepy voice came from Niall’s side. He turned to look at Liam to see the older boy was smiling at him even though his eyes were still lidded. “How do you feel, Ni?”

“Like utter shit.” Niall’s voice sounded hoarse and his throat burned, he needed a drink, but he didn’t think he could get to the kitchen without tripping over something. “What time is it?”

Liam turned to look at the clock in his nightstand, “Almost eleven.”

Niall groaned and fell backwards on the bed again, “I want to die.” He said, hiding his face in the pillow.

Liam chuckled, “I’ll make you some breakfast, yeah? You’ll feel better.”

“Liam, you can’t cook.” Niall’s voice was muffled by the pillow.

“Well I can try, right? It not like I haven’t made break-“ and then there was a knock on the door and Liam’s mum entered the room with a tray.

“I made you guys, breakfast, thought you’ll need something to eat.”

Liam smiled at his mother, “thanks, mum, smells great.”

Karen smiled at his son and placed the tray on the bed in front of them before walking out of the room again. Niall could smell toasts and fried eggs and bacon and coffee and suddenly his stomach groaned.

As Niall moved to a sitting position on the bed next to Liam to start eating his breakfast, there was another knock on the door and then Geoff’s head appeared, “can I come in?”

“Sure, dad, what’s up?” Liam asked him already sipping his coffee.

“Not that I want to embarrass you,” Liam’s dad said looking at Niall, “but I heard you last night so I though you’ll have a hungover today. I made this for you, it’s a tea made of herbs, it’s not magical but you’ll feel better.” He smiled, handing the mug to Niall who was, indeed, very embarrassed and red as a tomato but took the mug in his hands and muttered a “thank you” with a shy smile.

“Oh, you’d want to drink that and then eat your breakfast cause its taste isn’t the best,” Geoff commented, “but just don’t think about it, just drink it and you’ll feel better.” he smiled at the blond who nodded and then Liam’s father was out of the room.

Niall sipped the tea and winced, “he’s right, it tastes horrible.”

Liam chuckled, “I know,” he said and Niall turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, “what? I drank that thing once or twice,” the older boy shrugged, “it’s not like you haven’t seen me drunk before.”

“Yeah, but just once though, you’ve seen me drunk so many times,” Niall sighed, “I’m a horrible boyfriend.”

Liam slapped his arm playfully, “shut up you and drink that thing.”

Niall look at the mug in his hands, luckily it wasn’t a big one and it wasn’t full, he took a deep breath and after two (big) sips, the tea was gone. “Well that was far worse than I expected” he stated and Liam laughed.

“Just wait a couple of minutes and then you’ll eat breakfast and the taste will be gone.”

“I have to live with this taste in my mouth for a couple of minutes?!” Niall exclaimed with a disgusted face and Liam laughed even more.

The blond waited five minutes before attacking his breakfast and let out a long sigh as he chewed on the bacon, “haven’t had one of this breakfasts in forever.”

“Sorry I can’t cook” Liam said with an apologetic smile, still looking at his food.

“Hey, don’t, I know how to cook and still I never made this,” he shrugged, “I think I’ll start to.”

They ate the rest of breakfast in silence when Niall felt his phone vibrate in the bedside table, he took it and unlocked the screen, a text from Harry, huh? He opened it, _‘got liam to take you somewhere else last night? ;)_ ’, he frowned at the text, what?

Liam noticed Niall’s confused face, “who is it?”

Niall blushed, “Harry,” he mumbled, “did I do something last night?”

“Uh… no? Why?” Liam asked confused and Niall handed him his phone.

“Oh, that’s what you meant,” Liam said reading the text and chuckling.

“What’s that about?” Niall asked still confused.

“Nothing, Ni, you just asked, like, a lot of times,” Liam chuckled again, “if we could go somewhere else last night, you almost wanted to me to fuck you in the bar’s bathroom, but you were drunk and I wouldn’t take advantage of you in the state you were.”

Niall groaned and ran his hands through his hair and then covered his face, “jeez, I didn’t know I was such a slut when I was drunk, I’m sorry, Li. I bet those are the times you regret ever picking me up from the streets.”

Liam’s face then went serious and frowned, he took Niall’s hands away from his face and turned him so he was looking at him in the eye, “don’t you ever say that again, Niall, ever, okay? I wouldn’t have it any other way, I love you no matter what.”

Niall then looked down and nodded and hugged Liam who hugged him back and placed a kiss on the top of his head.

“Oh, by the way,” Niall said while pulling away a little, but not actually unwrapping his arms from Liam’s body, “I know you don’t like it when I say thank you but I feel like I should, and I want to, so thank you.”

Liam frowned, “what are you thanking me for?”

“For everything, I mean-“ Niall cut himself off and covered Liam’s mouth with his hand because he was about to talk and he wanted to finish, “let me finish, yes?” Niall asked and Liam nodded and then he took his hand away, “last night, when I got my diploma and turned to look at you and saw the rest of the boys and your family, I realized that everything happened because of you, like, where would I be now if it wasn’t for you, Liam? You pick me up from that horrible life I was living and you trusted me, you trusted me enough to let me into your life and thought I was capable of doing something with my life instead of thinking I was a lost cause, and that is something I’ll always be thankful for, Li, really.” Niall finished and hugged Liam back but with such a force they fell, with their backs against the mattress. Well, Liam’s back was against the mattress and Niall was half lying on top of him with his arms around his middle.

The older boy let one of his arms around the blond’s body and the other one went to his hair to ran his fingers through it, “nothing to be thankful for, it was my pleasure,” he smiled down at him, “I’m proud of you for proving my point.” Liam told him and could feel Niall smiling against his skin and placing a kiss on his chest.

There was a soft knock on the door and Liam’s sister head popped up from the door, “hello there, boys, good morning, are you planning on ever getting up from the bed or are you planning on spending the day being a cute couple in there?” she said smiling, “’cause we’re getting bored.”

“Well, we did indeed, plan of getting up, but now that you mention it, we can stay in bed all day and be a cute couple, can’t we, Ni?” Liam said moving his eyes from his sister to look down at Niall.

In any other occasion, Niall would jumped and moved away from Liam if someone entered their room when they were cuddling or something, no matter how good he got along with that person, that’s why he was surprised when he didn’t even thought about moving right now, he was much too comfortable in Liam’s arms and well, Liam’s sister didn’t mind.

“Mhm,” Niall said nodding against the older boy’s chest and smiling, his eyes closed, “I wouldn’t mind actually.”

“But boooooooys!” Liam’s sister whined, making both boys laugh.

“Alright, alright, just a few more minutes and then we’ll get up and have some lunch, okay? It’s almost midday.” Liam said and his sister smiled big at him.

“Alright you lovebirds.” And then she was out.

“We’re going to Nando’s, right?” Niall asked, his eyes still closed, his ear against Liam’s chest and he could hear the older boy’s heartbeat and how his chest moved up and down because he made him laugh.

“Of course, wherever you want to go, love.”

Niall smiled and hugged him tighter, “I don’t want to get up, I’m comfy here.”

“So am I, and I assure you, I would gladly spend the whole day in bed but I’d like to spend some time with my family.”

“I know,” Niall sighed, “sorry.” He went to move away but Liam held him in place.

“Don’t.” he stated. “I love you.” He murmured against Niall’s ruffled hair while placing a kiss there.

They spent some minutes quiet until Niall remembered something, “Li, have you taken your vitamins yet?” he asked just as Liam’s mother entered the room. Great.

“Vitamins?” Karen frowned, “what are you taking them for, Liam?” she asked.

Liam sighed and unwrapped his arms from around Niall’s figure to sit up on the bed, “look mum, I didn’t want to tell you ‘cause you’ll worry and I didn’t want you too, it’s nothing, really.”

Karen glared at him and then turned her face to the door, “Geoff!” she called his husband’s name.

Liam’s dad came into the room, “what’s going on?” he asked.

“Liam’s been taking vitamins for something but he didn’t tell us because ‘it’s nothing’.”

Geoff looked at Liam, then back at his wife, “well, he’s an adult now, if he says he’s nothing, then we should trust him.” He said and Liam smiled at him.

“Well but he’s still our son, we have the right to know what’s going on in his life, what if something happens to him?”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me, mum.” Liam said rolling his eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell us, son?” Geoff asked.

Liam sighed again, “because it’s nothing!”

Niall then spoke for the first time since the conversation started, “Liam, I think you should them though.”

Liam then turned to look at him a serious face, an expression that said ‘really? jeez, thanks’, but chose to shut your eyes for a moment before speaking, “okay, I’ll tell you but just let me tell the whole story, yeah?” he asked, his parents nodded. “Some months ago, I started feeling really tired and having headaches and Niall was worried and told me to go to the doctor but I didn’t thought it was necessary, I mean, I just thought it was a result of going to uni and working and studying, but one day I just passed out on the living room-“

“And you didn’t tell us?!” his mum exclaimed. His sisters coming into the room to know what was happening.

“I’m sorry! Niall wanted to call you but I told him not to because it was nothing,” Liam sighed and his mother glared at him but he ignored her and continued talking, “well, the thing was, Niall took me to the hospital and they ran a blood test, right? And they discovered it was some virus there’s already inside our bodies, but its level was a lot higher than it should have, and that was what was making me feel that way. They said I should go less times a week to the gym and take some vitamins and-“ he cut himself, his parents didn’t need to know about his sex life.

“And what?” his mother frowned.

“Nothing, mum.”

“Liam.” she glared at him.

“Mum, really, it’s nothing.” He told her again, and then Karen saw the look in his face and how Niall was blushing and yeah, maybe she didn’t have to know.

“Why didn’t you call us? Your dad’s a doctor, he would’ve told you something.”

“But I already been to the doctor!”

Karen sighed, “you’re unbelievable. Just tell us next time, okay?” she said, Liam nodded and then his parents were out of the room.

“Well, that was kind of uncomfortable.” Niall said.

Liam chuckled, “what? How I almost said we couldn’t have sex regularly?”

Niall blushed, “No! I mean, yes, that too, but I don’t know, I felt like I you were supposed to have that chat with your parents without me being here.” He shrugged.

“Nah, it wasn’t that serious, Ni, really.” he smiled at him.

Niall returned the smile, “well, how about getting up and going for lunch?”

*

The weekend passed quickly in between family time and Niall grew even fonder of each one of them, but definitely cooking with Karen was his favorite. Nicola and Ruth couldn’t stop cooing at how cute their little brother and him were, something that had him blushing every time.

Liam’s family had been in London plenty of times before so they didn’t have to spend time showing them around, they just went to have a family lunch once and then most of the time was spent on Liam’s flat.

Now it was already dark outside and they were just entering their flat after saying goodbye to Liam’s family who were going back to their home and to their normal lives. Good, because Niall was dying to have his way with Liam now that they were alone.

As soon as the door was closed behind their backs, Niall had thrown himself at Liam, attacking his lips.

“Woah woah, someone’s a little eager, huh?” Liam teased, pulling away from the blond’s lips just a few inches.

“Mm, I missed you.” Niall said, kissing down Liam’s neck.

The older boy chuckled, “I’ve been here the- _oh_ \- the whole time!” he told his boyfriend just as he started sucking on his sweet spot.

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Niall said, now tugging at the hem of Liam’s shirt.

They kept kissing heatedly for a couple of minutes when Liam said, “shower?” against Niall’s lips.

The blond pulled away, “I am thinking about you fucking me and you’re thinking about having shower? Oh, our commun-“ Niall cut himself from speaking when he saw Liam looking at him with arched eyebrow, “OH,” Niall blushed, he felt stupid for not understanding what Liam meant, “yeah, I’d like that.”

Liam took him by the hand and carried him to the bathroom, closing the door and facing the shower and opening the hot water while Niall stripped out of his clothes. He could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket as he took his pants off but decided to ignore it, whoever was calling, could wait until they were done.

When Niall was completely naked, he helped Liam out of his clothes before both of them hopped into the shower, the hot water falling and running down their bodies while they kissed.

Liam took both of their erections in his hand and started moving his hand up and down slowly. Niall groaned, “no teasing, Li, come on.” The blond said, turning around and leaning over the wall, showing his ass to Liam.

“Fuck, you look so hot like that,” Liam said, as he moved closer to kiss his neck from behind as one of his hands worked up and down his cock slowly and with his other hand, he had one finger already teasing Niall, “offering yourself like that to me.” And then he pushed his finger in, making Niall moan.

A minute later Niall was asking for one more, “come on, Li, I can take it” and then Liam did. A few minutes after he prepared Niall, he pulled his fingers out.

“No lube so it’ll probably hurt a little, can you take it?” Liam asked and placed a kiss between his shoulder blades.

“Yeah, come on, Li, fuck, come on.”

Liam turned Niall’s face so he could kiss him just at the same time he entered him. He was slow at first, he was always careful not to hurt the blond no matter how much he wanted to just pound into him. When he started to move faster, Niall lowered his hand to grip his cock but Liam stopped him, grabbing his arms and pinning his wrist with one hand above his head.

Niall was dying for some friction, dying for Liam to touch him but at the same time, he loved this dominant side of Liam he didn’t really get to see often, plus, it was hot.

Liam had to hold Niall tight in place because his legs were shaking already and he was starting to slip, “Liam, please, _please_ ” he begged.

Liam shook his head no and starting sucking a lovebite where Niall’s shoulder and neck joined together, “you wanna come?”

“Yes, Liam, yes yes, please.”

Liam then pulled out and Niall frowned in confusion and was about to ask what was going on when Liam turned off the water and lifted Niall and got out of the shower. Well Niall was more confused now.

“You were slipping and fucking there is fucking difficult,” Liam said and pushed Niall until he was against the wall and took his legs and lifted him up, the blond wrapping his legs around Liam’s waist, his arms instantly wrapping around the older boy’s neck, his hands pulling the hair in the back of his neck. The older boy took his member in his hand and guided it to Niall’s hole again, the blond letting out a loud “fuck”.

They’ve never done it like that, and there was something about the position that changed and the angle was so good. Niall went to grab his length again but Liam stopped him again and pinned his wrists above his head one more time, “No.” he groaned against Niall’s lips and into the kiss. Niall whimpered, he fucking _whimpered_.

 “Think you can come just from me being inside you?” Liam asked.

“I- I- fuck, yes, Liam, faster.”

Liam started to move faster but moved his hips in a way so he could hit Niall’s prostate repeatedly and then avoid it completely, making Niall edge his orgasm all the time.

“Liam, stop being a fucking tease and fucking make me cum!” Niall almost yelled at him. Liam smirked to himself, “as you wish, babe”, he said, crashing his lips against the blond one’s and moved even faster (if that was possible) but this time making sure he was brushing that spot inside him every time, making Niall let out a bunch of ‘ah ah ah’s before coming in between his bodies with a cry of Liam’s name.

The older boy kept thrusting while Niall clenched around him and he was about to cum when Niall unwrapped his legs from around him, making him pull out. He didn’t have enough time to ask him what he was doing when Niall kneeled in front of him and opened his mouth.

“Fuck” Liam muttered and placed the tip of his cock on Niall’s tongue and pumped his hand a couple of times and then he was coming in the blond’s mouth with a groan.

When he was done, Niall closed his mouth and then reopened it and stuck his tongue out to show him he swallowed it all. Liam chuckled, “good boy” and ruffled his hair with a hand and then offered it to him to stand up, “now, how about a real shower?”

This time the shower was a lot more peaceful, just kisses and gentle touches and Niall was amazed by how could they act like animals and then be a cute couple again in five minutes. But hey, that’s one of the things that made the relationship fun, right?

By the time they were done, they dried theirselves and went to their room and fell on the bed only wearing boxers.

“So you are actually that good.” Niall said, covering himself with the blankets, letting out a happy sigh.

“Huh?” Liam said with a raised eyebrow.

“You made me cum without touching me, that was, wow, mindblowing.” The blond chuckled.

“Oh… yeah, I don’t know what came into me. Was that good? Did I hurt you?”

“I’m telling you it was mindblowing and you’re asking me if it was good?” he raised an eyebrow, “you’re unbelievable. And no, I don’t think so, I mean, I’ll probably be a little sore tomorrow but it’s okay.” He shrugged.

“Sorry.” Liam said sheepishly.

And after that, the room was quiet, but it wasn’t awkward, it was a good silence, just the two of them lying in bed next to each other, until Liam decided to speak.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you about the new gossip.”

Niall chuckled and turned to lie on his side, looking at Liam, “Gossip?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, about Harry and Louis.”

“What happened? Why am I not informed?”

“Because you were very drunk last night and they didn’t say anything, I just happened to see them.”

“Well…?”

“Well when I lost you last night and was looking for you, I saw them kissing in a corner of the bar… well, kissing is not the word, more like, snogging the life out of each other.” He chuckled and Niall laughed.

“I knew Harry would get him!”

Liam raised and eyebrow, “so you and Harry are like really good friends now, huh?”

“Yeah, we kind of are, you know how he always comes over when you and Lou have classes so I guess we spent a lot of time with each other,” he shrugged, “he told me he had always had something for Louis but he didn’t know what exactly was it because he didn’t get to see him a lot, but now that they live together… well, you know, he kind of fell for him, I guess.”

“I just want them to be happy, you know? I know Lou is kind of hesitant still, but I’m sure he’ll get to it.”

“I don’t think he’s hesitant if what you saw really happened.” Niall saw and they both burst laughing.

They were stopped but Niall’s phone vibrating somewhere, “shit, I forgot about that, someone was calling me before our shower.” He stood up from the bed, looking for his clothes until he found his phone in his pants pocket, Greg was calling, he picked up quickly.

“Hey, Greg.”

“Hey little bro, I called you like a million times! Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I was, uh, kind of in the middle of something.” The blond blushed but luckily his brother wasn’t able to see him.

“Oh. Alright, mum and dad want to talk to you, are you free right now?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll call you on Skyp right now.”

“Great, see you there bro!” and then the line went dead.

“Put some clothes on, we’re talking to my parents.” Niall said to Liam while he looked for some clothes for him and carried his laptop to the bed.

They both put shirts and sweatpants on and then Niall called his brother, some minutes after, his face, as well as his parents faces, appeared on the screen.

“Hello family!” Niall cheered.

“Hi!” the three voices greeted him from the other side of the screen.

“So, what’s up?” the blond asked.

“Oh, we just wanted to know how you were doing and school and that stuff.” His mother said.

“Oh, I actually finished highschool on Friday, I’m free now, it feels great!” he smiled big.

“You did?! That’s so good Ni, we’re so happy!”

“Thanks mum.” He said, a flinch of adoration in his voice.

“So, we were thinking...” his father was now the one talking, “we should organize like, a reunion, maybe you can come here for a couple of days, or we can go there, I don’t know, whatever makes you more comfortable?”

“I, uhm,” Niall didn’t know what to say and turn to look at Liam.

“It’s okay by me, Ni, you can go if you want, you must miss your home.”

Niall then turned to the computer again, “can Liam come with me if I go there?”

His parents didn’t answer immediately, “of course he can, honey.” His mother answered a minute later.

“Alright then, we’re going to Ireland!” Niall smiled but suddenly it fell, “wait, I can’t afford tickets to go there.” He sounded sad.

His parents were about to talk but Liam spoke first, “I’ll pay.”

Niall turned to look at him, his eyes opened wide, “what?”

“I’ll pay.” Liam repeated with a warm smile.

“But- no, Liam, you can’t.” He really couldn’t, it was one thing to give him a roof, food, but tickets to Ireland? Man, those costed a lot.

“Why not? If my bo-“ he cut himself, he just didn’t want to say the word in front of the blond’s parents yet, “if you want to go see your family and go back to your country and I can give you that one thing to make you happy then why wouldn’t I do that?” Liam asked.

“But Liam, that’s- that’s too much, you don’t have to do that.”

Niall’s parents who were still on the other side of the screen felt like they shouldn’t have to listen to this, “boys?” Niall’s mom asked, “why don’t you talk about it and then just tell us what you decided?”

“That’s not necessary,” Liam said, “I’ll pay for the tickets and we’ll be there, I really don’t have any problem with that.” He smiled.

Niall sighed, defeated but really, Liam was so perfect he thought he could die if he loved him any more.

“Okay, you just buy the tickets and let us know when you’re coming. We’re so happy we’ll see you again, Ni!” his mother exclaimed, “and to meet you too, Liam.” she smiled then.

“I’m very happy too, mum.” Niall said smiling.

“Alright, now that is all sorted, we have things to do, so we better keep going, right Maura?” Niall’s father asked.

“Yes, okay. See you guys later!” his mother and Greg waved goodbye.

The boys said their goodbyes too and then Niall shut down the computer and turned to Liam and hugged him, “you didn’t have to, Liam, thank you.” He swallowed a sob.

“Why are you crying?” Liam said, pulling a little away.

“Because I think my heart is going to explode due to how much I love you. I thought I couldn’t love you more but you just keep on making me fall for you a little more every day, Liam, how is that even possible?”

Liam felt melt at his words, “Well I could ask the same, you know.”

“No, Liam, seriously, you not only picked me up when I was down, when I had nothing to live for, literally, and gave me a new life and now you’re giving me a chance to have my old life back too, to go back to my family. I could never thank you enough for that.” And then he hugged Liam again but so tight, the older boy couldn’t breathe. “I love you, Liam, so much. Thank you.” The blond whispered in Liam’s ear.

“Anything for you, Niall. Anything for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry because of that smut part, I don't even know where it came from ??  
> aaaaaaaaand, yes, Niall's apparently going to meet with his family, I think I been waiting for that since the start of this story, lol  
> also, I don't even know what am I doing with the larry pairing, bare with me.
> 
> in another note, I have so many ideas for fics/one shots, I think I'm going to make a post (like if it was a new story) with all the ideas so you can tell me which one you want me to write, if you even want me to keep on writing, that is. would you like that?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “And what’s wrong about that?”  
> “Nothing, just… he’s not forcing you into anything, right? Making you do things you don’t want to?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've ever written, almost 10.2k words, wow.  
> Please read the notes at the end!

A week has passed and the boys were finishing packing their bags for their trip to Ireland. This should be interesting.

The boys had gone and bought tickets to their flight just a day after Niall’s conversation with his parents. He was very excited. And scared too. He didn’t know what to expect, what if his parents were just acting up so they could have the chance to have him back home and then make his life miserable again? No. _‘That’s not going to happen’_ , Niall thought to himself, his parents weren’t that bad, those times were just hard ones and he was a teenager. He has changed since then. And he has Liam, and he will be there if anything goes wrong. But he hoped that would not happen.

Another thing going around Niall’s mind was what the hell was he supposed to tell his parents about what he’d been doing the past two years. He thought about lying to them, said he got some job so he could live but that he couldn’t afford going to school and that’s why he did it now with Liam’s help. But he couldn’t do that, he couldn’t lie to his parents. No matter how terrible they were to him, it wasn’t in his heart to hate them and lie to them. He would tell them the real story. If they asked that is.

On the other hand, Liam was more than happy for his boyfriend and the fact that he had a chance to see his family again. If he was honest, the only thing that made him a little nervous, was that he was about to meet Niall’s parents and he wanted to make a good impression. Not that there was something bad about him, he was a good guy, worked, studied, didn’t do drugs or smoking, just an occasional amount of alcohol in his system once in a while, but the most important, he loved Niall with his life. He hoped everything would turn out right, he wanted to see Niall happy, and those past few days, he could see some kind of hope shining in those blue eyes of his and he liked it. And he was happy to pay, to give the blond this opportunity to regain his old life back as long as he got to be a part of it too.

Now they were just a few hours away from their flight, the only thing they had to do was carry Ash to Zayn’s house given that he was more than happy to take care of the little dog and Ash seemed to like him more than Harry and Louis, not that he didn’t like them, but apparently Zayn liked dogs a little too much so he was quick to accept when the boys asked him if he could take care of him while they were in Ireland.

“You ready to go, Ni?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Niall answered, grabbing his bang just as Liam grabbed his and Ash’s lash.

They took a cab to Zayn’s home, which wasn’t really easy to find as they were with a dog and most drivers didn’t want pets in the car, but after asking three or four drivers, one agreed to take them and they even had a nice chat with the man.

The ride to Zayn’s flat wasn’t really long, and once they were out of the taxi after paying the man and thanking them for taking them in, they headed to Zayn’s and rang the bell.

They weren’t really comfortable going around as it was summer already and it was freaking hot outside and they were carrying their suitcases with them and Ash just wouldn’t stay still.

Two minutes after they rang the bell a sleepy Zayn appeared on the door.

“Mates, I’m sorry, I completely overslept!” Zayn said with a still groggy voice and an apologetic expression.

“Why am I not surprised?” Liam chuckled and the dark haired lad rolled his eyes but still smiled. “You won’t be sleeping too much with Ash, he wakes up early in the morning.” Liam commented.

“Yes, he’ll want you to take him for his morning walk.”

Zayn whined, “we did I agree to this again?”

“Because you love us,” Niall said, “and you love Ash, of course.” Niall said patting the little dog in his head. Ash then barked and moved his tail at Zayn, “see? He loves you too, Zayn!”

Zayn made some sort of ‘aww’ sound and patted Ash’s head too.

“Alright, Ni, we need to get going,” Liam said watching his clock, “take care of him, Z, please?” Liam said looking at his older friend.

“Of course I will, man, I love him,” he said and then looked down and lowered his whole body to the dog’s face and smiled at him, “we’ll have an amazing time, right Ash?” he told him and Ash just barked happily and licked Zayn’s face. Liam and Niall chuckled. “Alright, you can go, you guys have a safe flight and I hope everything turns out alright, give us a call from time to time, yeah?”

“Will do.” Liam said and with that both boys hugged his friend and said their goodbyes to him and his dog who they were going to miss terribly.

After Zayn had closed his door, the boys went to take another taxi to the airport. This ride was now a little longer and quiet.

Once there, they made the check in and everything was in order. Their suitcases were already in the plane and they were waiting for the call which said they could get on the plane.

“So… you ready for this, Ni?”

“Nervous, haven’t seen my family in a while, but yes, definitely ready, can’t wait to see them again.”

“I’m so proud and happy for you, Ni, you have no idea, you deserve all of this.” Liam said and hugged him, Niall head resting against Liam’s neck and the older boy could hear a “thanks, Li” mumbled against his skin and a small smile. No more words were needed.

After some minutes, when all the people were done with their checks in and everything was ready, they were told they could already board the plane, Niall took a long, deep breath and squeezed Liam’s hand that was holding his, “so, this is it then.”

*

“Liam,” Niall said poking the older boy’s cheek, “Li, wake up!” he said whisper yelling to him, “We’re about to land!”

Liam opened his eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the light and rubbed his eyes, “already? I’m tiiiired!”

The blond let out a small laugh, “I know, baby, but Ireland is actually not that from England so it’s not a long flight.”

“Isn’t it?” Liam asked with furrowed frowns and then just shrugged, “guess it is, I’ve always sucked at geography.” he added and Niall laughed.

After a couple of minutes a voice sounded through the speakers, signaling they were about to land and to put they belts on.

When they were already with his feet touching the ground, they went straight to look for their bags and once it was all done, they headed outside the airport where Niall’s brother will be waiting for them. To be honest, Niall couldn’t contain his excitement.

Just as they were walking out the door of the airport, all of their luggage in hand, Niall spotted, his brother standing in the corner, he looked just the same. He couldn’t help but smile as soon as he saw him and he accelerated his steps and Liam let out a chuckle at how excited Niall was but followed him nonetheless; they were still holding hands anyways.

Just as Niall came to a stop in front of his brother, his eyes wide in amusement, his smile bright and big, and he was about to say something but his older brother moved first and went to hug him, the blond letting go of his boyfriend’s hand to circle his arms around his brother who was hugging him tightly.

“I can’t believe this, it’s… it’s so unbelievable, Ni!” Greg exclaimed once he let go of his little brother.

“I know, right? It’s so good to see you, bro, I missed you so much!” Niall said still smiling.

Liam couldn’t help but smile at the exchange, the looks of happiness in both their faces, their eyes.

“So…” Greg turned to Liam, “oh come here you too!” Greg said smiling to Liam and giving him half a hug making the boy laugh, “it’s good to finally meet you, man.”

“Same over here, Niall has told me a lot about your little adventures and pranks from when you were little, couldn’t wait to meet his partner in crime from childhood!” Liam told him and Greg laughed.

“Oh, the old times…” Greg said and after a couple of seconds and then came back to earth and clapped his hands, “so why don’t we head home then?” he asked and both boys nodded and got into Niall’s brother’s car after they had put their luggage in the trunk.

*

During the ride to Niall’s old house the boys just told Greg simple things about them, leaving aside, of course, Niall’s past years, and then told them about their flight and how Liam just fell asleep on Niall five minutes after the plane took off, Liam glaring at Niall as saying ‘well thank you for make my first impression so good’ but Niall just laughed and hugged him (not sure if his brother would be completely comfortable with them kissing there) and said it was cute.

Soon enough, Greg’s car came to a stop to his old house, Niall let out a long sigh and Liam took his hand and squeezed, murmuring a “we can do this, babe, I’m here” just as Niall’s brother was out of the car so he couldn’t hear him.

They took their bags and stuff out of the trunk and walked to the door which Greg opened with his key and they all went inside. Just as Greg closed the door behind them, Niall’s parents appear in the living room and stopped just when they saw Niall. There was a minute of complete awkward silence when they all just stared at each other before Niall’s mum broke the silence.

“Niall!” she exclaimed and ran towards his son and hugged him tight.

The blond let go of his boyfriend’s hand once again to hug his mum, “hi, mum” he said, his voice muffled as he was talking with his head buried in his mother’s hair.

“I missed you so much, I feel so bad, Niall, I hope you already forgave us and if not I’ll try my hardest.” She said with a little smile and watery eyes when she let go of him.

On the other hand, Niall’s father was still standing there, looking at him in disbelief.

“Dad?” Niall asked tentatively and gave a step forward and then his father smiled at him and went to hug him.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so surprised to see you, son.” He told him and pulled away. “So, you’re Liam,” his father said looking at Liam with a smile but the boy could see it didn’t reach his eyes, like he was still doubting, but hey, Liam would have to earn their trust, right? He was more than willing to do that for Niall, for their relationship. “It’s good to finally meet you” Bobby said, extending his hand which Liam took and shook with confidence.

“I’m very happy to meet you,” Liam said with a polite smile.

“Oh please!” Maura exclaimed and then went to hug Liam, making the boy chuckle. “I’m sorry, this is still kind of new to us but we’ll do our best to not make you feel uncomfortable, we’re very happy as long as our son is happy too” she smiled sincerely when he let go of him.

“Alright!” Greg said then, “now that everyone’d met each other, why don’t we let these two go to their room, I’m sure they are tired from their flight.”

Maura then nodded, “Uhm… we kind of turned your old room into a guest room, Niall, I’m sorry, we did it a couple of months ago when we realized you were probably never coming back home,” she said with an apologetic expression but a flint of sadness in her voice, “but I guess I was wrong, that’s good, right? I haven’t thrown any of your things though, you can have them back if you want.”

Niall just nodded, trying to hide hurt in his face when his mother said his old room wasn’t his room anymore, but he couldn’t blame them, he never actually thought of coming back until some weeks ago.

They walked upstairs up to what it used to be Niall’s bedroom and he looked around, the walls were now a pale crème color, no posters, his bed wasn’t in there anymore but a double one was placed there with a TV in front of it, a window with a view to their back garden above the bed headboard, the to the left and to the right, he could still recognize his old desk.

The boys left their suitcases in a corner, and Niall suggested they could go grab some lunch before taking a nap and Liam quickly agreed, so they headed downstairs and went to the kitchen. Niall smiled at the sight, nothing has changed in there.

“You guys must be hungry, do you want some lunch?”

“Yes, please, mum, I’m starving!” Niall exclaimed, taking a seat on a chair by the table, Liam sitting next to him.

“Guess that’s one thing that hasn’t changed about you.” His mother laughed.

“Never!” Niall exclaimed. He was so happy to see his mum, he couldn’t stop smiling around her. It was different with his father, he could see he wasn’t completely convinced, but he’ll have to live with it until he was used to it. Whatever, he wasn’t really planning on staying there long so…

After about half an hour, Maura called Greg and Bobby to the kitchen to have lunch. She had prepared some salads, fried chips and sandwiches.

“So, what have you been up to these past years, son?” Bobby asked.

Niall swallowed hard and Liam turned to look at him expectantly, “I… just doing some things here and there in London,” he shrugged, looking down to his food, “don’t really want to talk about it now.”

His father sigh, “I’m sorry, son, about everything that happened, but we’re still your parents, you can still trust us, you know that, right?”

Niall lifted his gaze, “I know, I’ll tell you eventually, just not now.” He said softly, because it was the truth, he wanted to tell them because they were still his parents, just like his father has said, but he didn’t know how they were going to react just now, after all they just saw each other for an hour after two years.

Greg then changed the topic and both Niall and Liam send him a thankful smile and looks, as they started chatting about sports and how Niall should take Liam to know the city better, which Liam was more than happy to agree and Niall nodded excited too, he hadn’t been home in a while. Oh, how he had missed Ireland.

After they were all done eating, Liam offered to help wash the dishes but Maura told him she couldn’t agree to that because he was the guest there and that he could go get some sleep, which had Liam thanking him before going upstairs with Niall.

After they were both inside the room, the door closed, they stripped off their clothes, just leaving their boxers on and got into the bed, Liam letting a happy sigh as his back hit the mattress and snuggled with the blankets.

Niall was instead just lying on his back, the blankets covering up to his stomach, and looking up at the ceiling.

Liam lifted himself on an elbow and look at Niall, running the fingers from his free hand through the blond’s hair, “you alright there, Ni?”

Niall seemed to snap back from his little world and turned his head to look at Liam, “yeah… yeah, alright, just… it’s weird, you know? To be back and all.”

“But you are happy.”

“I am, yes, I hadn’t noticed I missed them all so much, Greg’s still great,” Niall said with a happy smile, “mum’s great too, she seems honestly so happy to see me,” he added before his smiled faded, “but dad… I don’t know, something’s off about him, maybe he didn’t really want to see me.”

“Niall, don’t say that!” Liam told him, his voice raising a little then going back to normal, “I’m sure they are very happy to see you, I just think your dad needs to get used to… well, us.”

Niall sighed and turned his whole body around so he was facing Liam, “I know… I just want them to be happy about me having someone I really care about, guess it’s not that simple.”

“Well, you’ll have to give them some time to adjust, they haven’t seen you in a long time, Ni, and me being here is just… weird for them. Maybe it was me who shouldn’t have came here.” He shrugged, not hurt but being honest with Niall.

“No! I wouldn’t have came here if you weren’t with me, Liam, don’t you think that,” he said and snuggled close to Liam, “you’re my rock.”

Liam smiled and wrapped his arms around Niall’s slightly small frame, “you’re mine too.” He whispered and placed a kiss on the blond’s forehead, “now how about nap?” he asked and Niall chuckled but hugged him tighter before they both fell asleep.

*

Their nap was apparently longer that they expected because when they woke up and went downstairs it was about dinner time.

“Oh, you’re finally up guys!” Maura said, “thought I would have to wake you up for dinner.”

“Sorry, guess we were really tired.” Niall said apologetically.

“No worries, honey, now come help me cook over here, you still magical in the kitchen?”

“Oh, he still is.” Liam chuckled and Niall rolled his eyes and went to help his mother. Liam offered to help but Maura went again on how he was a guest and he shouldn’t do anything and even though the older boy insisted, Niall told his mother how useless was Liam in the kitchen (in a jokingly kind of way, of course) and Liam pouted and Niall went and pecked him on the lips when (he thought) his mother wasn’t looking, but she was and she couldn’t help but smile a little but still she didn’t say anything to them.

After almost an hour of preparing dinner, everything was ready and Niall’s father and brother were called in the kitchen. And oh, Denisse was there too!

“Niall!” Denisse exclaimed, “long time no seeing you, huh?” she said and went to give him a little hug.

“Hey, Denisse, it’s good to see you too,” he said with a smile, “this is Liam, my boyfriend.” He said when they pulled apart and turn to look at Liam.

“It’s nice to meet you too then, Liam.” she told him and gave him half a hug and Liam nodded and smiled at her.

They all sat down around the table and Maura put the meatloaf she and Niall prepared on the centre of the table before serving a portion to each of them.

“So have you met Liam’s parents, Ni?” Maura said at some point during dinner.

“Yes, I did, actually, during the Christmas holidays.”

“Oh, that’s great. So, they didn’t have any problems with… uhm, you two, right?”

“Oh, no,” Liam said, “they already knew about me so it wasn’t really a problem, they were more than happy with Niall, they love him.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone that doesn’t love Niall, he’s lovable.”Greg said laughing and they all laugh while Niall blushed a little.

“Do they live in London too?” this time was Bobby asking.

“No, they live back in Wolverhampton, that’s where I lived my whole life before going to London for my studies.”

“Oh. Did you go back there for holidays?”

“Yes, we did, it was good to see my family as I don’t get to see them a lot during the year.” Liam said with a sad smile.

“They are great,” Niall said, “they went all the way to London for my graduation.”

“Wish we could’ve been there.” Maura said trying to hide a sad smile.

“Oh, don’t worry mum, you guys live a whole different country. I wish you would’ve been there too, but hey, let’s not think about that.” Niall said to her putting a hand on her shoulder and she nodded.

“Are you going to keep on studying, son?” Bobby asked Niall.

“Yes, I’m going to be a chef!” he said very excited and Liam couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Oooh, that’s my baby!” Niall’s mother said, “you always wanted to do that, I’m so happy you’re going to do what makes you happy.”

“Couldn’t have done it without Liam.” the blond smiled at his boyfriend who gave him a smile back.

Then they were all silent for a moment while finishing their food before Niall spoke again, “hey mum? Do you think I can look through my old stuff? Want to see if I can find Sean’s number, haven’t seen him through all this time.”

“Oh, I’ve kept in touch with his mother, I’ll give you his house number.”

“Alright, thanks mum.”

*

After dinner, Maura gave Niall Sean’s number and then he and Liam went back to their room, Niall with his phone in hand already.

“What is he doesn’t want to talk to me?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Liam asked and Niall shrugged, “well, you’ll never know unless you call.”

Niall nodded and sighed before dialing the number and after the phone beeped three times, he could hear Sean’s voice.

“Hello?” a voice answered.

“Sean?” he asked.

“Yah’, who is it?”

“Uhm, it’s… it’s Niall.”

The line went silent for a minute until he could hear Sean talking again, “Niall? As in, Niall Horan?”

Niall laughed, “yeah, mate, it’s me.”

“WHAT THE FUCK, NIALL, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME?!” Niall heard his friend yelled and he had to get his phone away from his ear.

“Uhm, London.”

“Oh, so did you find some hot chick and get married and now live in a nice house and all?” Sean asked teasingly and laughed.

“Uh… no…”

“Hot guy?” his friend asked then and Niall could almost see him raising an eyebrow at him.

“I… yeah, yeah.” He said softly.

“Hey, I’m not judging you man, everything’s cool.”

“Thanks, mate.” Niall said with a small smile.

“So when did you come back? Are you staying? When can I see you?” Sean asked all at once, making the blond laugh while Liam looked at him from the bed with a small smile, he was so happy to see his boyfriend happy.

“I came here today, but I’m not staying, I’m going back to London in a week. We can meet tomorrow, how does that sound?”

“Sounds great, you can come over if you want.”

“Can I bring Liam with me?”

“Liam? Who’s Li- oh, so he’s here, great! I’ll get to meet him too then, sure. You can come over for lunch if you want.”

“That’ll be great, see you tomorrow then!”

“Can’t wait, Ni, see you tomorrow!”

After Niall had hung the phone, he fell backwards on the bed, landing next to Liam, “we’re having lunch tomorrow at Sean’s house.”

“Me too?”

“Yeah, you too.” Niall said and kissed him, Liam smiling against his lips.

“I think we should call the rest of the boys, let them know we’re alive.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

Liam took out his phone and looked for Louis’ name through his contacts and pressed call. It beeped for a couple of times and then went into voice mail and Liam rolled his eyes, of course he didn’t pick up, so he called again.

“LIAM?!” Louis cheery voice said when he picked up his phone.

“Don’t yell at me, Louis!” Liam chuckled, “I’m putting you on speaker, hang on,” he said and pressed the speaker button, “there you go now.”

“So how’s everything going there?” he asked and then they could hear him yelling “HARRY, ZAYN, COME OVER HERE, LIAM AND NIALL ARE ON THE PHONE!”

“HEEEEY!” they heard Harry yelling at them, “how are you two lovebirds?”

“Great, Niall’s family is pretty cool!” Liam said, “and we’re seeing one of his friends tomorrow.”

“Oh, so everything’s good? No problems?”

“Nope, luckily me parents seem to be okay with us.” Niall said.

“That’s great, we’re happy to hear that. Now, not that we don’t want to talk to you, guys, but we’re late for the movies, so we’ll talk soon, yeah? Have fun!”

“Alright, have fun you too, guys, bye!”

Liam hung up and put his phone on the bedside table, “I’m not sleepy yet, suggestions?”

“Well I’m in the mood for sex but I guess it can’t be done now, so we’ll have to settle for a movie or something.” Niall said with a defeated sigh.

Liam laughed, “you’re always in the mood for sex,” he said laughing and rolling his eyes.

“Well, I have two things to tell you. One, have you looked at yourself? And two, I’m twenty, what do you expect?” he said laughing and Liam kissed him on the lips but Niall tried to deepen the kiss and Liam pulled away, the blond whining, making the older boy chuckle.

“That was so not fair.” Niall said with a pout and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“I’m sorry.” Liam whispered and wrapped his arms around his waist.

“Nope, you’re not forgiven, Liam.” he said looking away faking a hurt face.

“What can I do so you forgive me?” Liam said.

“Hmm…” Niall said deep in thought, “kiss me again. A lot.”

“Niall.” Liam said now more serious.

“Just do it, Liam.” Niall said and crashed his lips against the older boy’s ones.

*

The next morning, Liam woke up feeling like he was inside an oven, “Jesus, why is it so hot in here?” he mumbled still sleepy, trying to untangle himself from the sheets.

“That’s because I’m in here.” Liam could hear the blond mumble, lying on his stomach, limbs all sprawled in bed.

“Cheeky.” Liam said and laughed.

“How about we have a shower and then go out to have some breakfast so I can show you around before going to Sean’s?” Niall asked, “that okay?”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll shower first.” Liam then got up from the bed and grabbed a pair of boxers and some fresh clothes before heading to the bathroom.

Of course he took his time to shower, he always did, did he ever mentioned he liked morning showers?

He let out a happy sigh as he got out of the shower and dried himself and put some clothes on, normally he would just put his boxers or wrap a tower around his waist and that’s it, but this is not his flat and he wouldn’t feel very comfortable if he ran into Niall’s parents just like that. He looked at the time in his phone (which he always carried with him to the bathroom with when he had a shower, sometimes he even put some music on, it was a bad habit of his but, oh well) and saw he spent half an hour in there.

He went out of the bathroom and opened the bedroom door to find a sight he didn’t expected at all. Niall breathing quickly, one of his hands running through his hair, cum splashed in his chest, his other hand still wrapped around his cock. Well, “fuck” Liam mumbled closing the door quickly.

Niall opened his eyes quickly, “shit, you scared me, Liam.” the blond said, letting a breath out.

Liam didn’t say anything, just stood by the bed looking down at Niall who was starting to blush by now.

“Liam, you look like you want to eat me.” The blond said with a giggle.

“I do.” Liam said, “now go shower.”

Niall went to stand up but instead just moved on the bed and stood on his two knees so he was in front of Liam and kissed him. Liam wanted to stop him by Niall held him by the waist, then moved one of his hands to his chest and collected some of his cum and pulled away from Liam’s lips and placed his fingers in front of him. Liam licked the blond’s fingers and then they kissed again.

“Niall, I don’t think we should-“ Liam started but was cut off by Niall’s lips again. Liam grabbed him by the waist and pulled away, “Niall, I’m serious, I don’t want to risk it, now go fucking shower.”

Niall sighed in defeat and grabbed a pair of boxers and a towel before opening the door and head out of the bedroom. Liam laid in bed trying to forget what he had just seen for his own good, no one wants to walk around your boyfriend’s house with a hard on, right? And he was just out of the shower so wanking was not an option right now.

He managed to cool down after a couple of minutes (the longest and most uncomfortable minutes ever if you asked him), so he decided to just stay there and wait for Niall to get out of the shower to go out for breakfast.

Niall entered the room with just a towel wrapped around his hips about ten minutes later, “well that’s not the sight I was expecting” the blond said shaking his head and with a fake look of disappointment when he saw his boyfriend fully clothed, lying in bed looking at the ceiling.

 Liam just rolled his eyes, “shut up and hurry, I’m hungry!” he said with a pout.

Niall chuckled and put some clothes on, and grabbed his phone and his walled from his bedside table before they both headed downstairs. They found Niall’s mum in the kitchen.

“Morning mum!”

“Morning, boys,” she smiled, “where are you two going?”

“We’re going out for breakfast so I can show Liam around a little, I haven’t been around in so long I want to see what changed,” he smiled, “then we’re going to Sean’s for lunch.”

“Alright, let me know if something happens.” His mother said and went back to whatever she was doing and the boys headed out of the house.

They walked down the streets hand in hand, Niall telling Liam stories about his childhood or from when he was in high school, about some prank he’d made with friends, and pointing at houses, parks or places that meant something to him. Liam was more than happy to listen to each and every word that left Niall’s mouth, laughing at his jokes and funny memories. And even though he was away from home, he felt comfortable.

After walking for quite some time, they reached a café in the centre of the town, it was small but it seemed nice enough. Niall entered the place, Liam behind him and they both went straight to order, coffee for the two of them, a muffin for Niall and a brownie for Liam.

Once they had their orders, they sat in a table at the back even though the place wasn’t very crowded with people. They ate in silence for the first minutes until Niall noticed Liam looking and smiling at him.

“What?” the blond asked confused, “why are you smiling at me?”

“I don’t know,” Liam shrugged, “you give me plenty of reasons to smile.”

Niall blushed but couldn’t help but smile, “cheesy.”

“I love you.”

“So do I.” Niall told him and smiled at Liam, “so do you like it here?”

“Yeah, I do, it’s like peaceful but full of life, like, the houses or the air, I don’t know, there’s just something.”

“I know, I missed this a lot.” Niall said with a sigh.

“Maybe we can come here from time to time.” Liam commented.

“Maybe,” Niall told him, “but I need to get a job, I don’t like it when you pay for everything.”

Liam rolled his eyes, “if it makes you happy then it’s worth it.” he said sipping his coffee.

“You’re being awfully cheesy today, Liam.” Niall laughed but his eyes sparkled.

“I know, sorry,” Liam said with a small smile, “it’s just- you look so happy, and relieved in some kind of way, I am happy for you, if you’re happy, I’m happy, that’s all that matters, you know?”

Niall beamed at him and took his hand, placing a kiss on his knuckles, “you’re the cutest.”

*

After their breakfast, Niall kept showing Liam around, they walked past his school, which Niall pointed to and of course it brought some memories too which he shared with Liam. They went to this park which was his favorite when he was a child (or so his mother had told him) and sat in the swings and laid on the grass and talked about nothing and about things they’d like to share in the future and laughed about how stupid and in love they were.

By the time it was already twelve thirty, Niall decided it was time to head to Sean’s house, as it wasn’t a long walk from there. On the way there, Niall told Liam about Sean, how they met when they were little and had clicked almost instantly, and how terrible they were when they were together, how his mothers said they were like a bomb and it was almost impossible to deal with them, and then how they grew and made some new friends in high school but always stuck together. Niall thought it was great that Sean still wanted to see him now, even two years later he ran away, that he remembered him, but then again, his friendship was not easy to forget, and of course Niall hadn’t either. He was kind of nervous about him meeting Liam though, he said he was okay but you never know.

When they got to the door, Niall rang the bell and not a minute passed before someone opened the door.

“HOLY SHIT, NIALL, YOU’RE ALIVE!” a boy exclaimed and Niall couldn’t help but laugh at his friend.

“I am, mate! I missed you, how are you?” Niall said hugging Sean. Liam smiled at the two boys.

“Wow, this is just- wow, that’s it.” Sean laughed when they pulled apart. “So…” he said moving his eyes to Liam.

“So, he’s Liam.” Niall said introducing him to his friend and they both shook hands, which was exactly what he expected, a hug would have been weird.

Niall’s friend let them inside and food was ready already so they sat down in the table. The chat was pretty comfortable, of course Niall had to go through the inevitable ‘where have you been?’ and ‘what have you been doing?’ and ‘how did you and Liam met?’ but he had it all figured it out. He told him he was in London, which was, in fact, true, but he told him he had been working here and there around for the past years just for a living until he met Liam almost a year ago and that they now lived together (even though they had always, but he didn’t tell him that.)

They then moved to the living room and sat down on the sofas and Niall remembered the amount of times him and Sean had seated there and watched movies or planned pranks to play at school.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Sean telling Niall about his life, what have he done during these years and what have changed, some rumors he found out about someone who went to school with them, sports and what he was planning to do with his life, in between snacks and some other beer. And Liam, to be honest, felt kind of out, but it was okay, he was okay with Niall having his friend back, and thankful for Niall’s friend not judging the blond when he found out about him.

When the sun was starting to go down, Niall and Liam were ready to head back home, so they said their goodbyes before leaving, Niall promising his friend they’ll see each other before they were going back to London.

They took a bus to go back home as they had already walked enough for the day, and in less than half an hour, they were opening the door of Niall’s family house and walking straight to the kitchen where Maura was already cooking dinner and Niall went there to help her while Liam just sat there and talked to them, not cooking because, well, he couldn’t cook but he was giving them his moral support, if that was even a thing.

They had a nice meal with Niall’s parents, Greg wasn’t with them today because he was going somewhere with Denisse, so it was just the four of them. But Niall couldn’t help but noticed the weird glances or looks his father was throwing at Liam or how his eyes moved between the two of them when they smile at each other or did something. He just hoped nothing was wrong and that it was just a matter of time so his would get used to this.

*

The next morning, Niall woke up earlier than Liam so he decided to do something nice and prepare breakfast to carry to bed, so he put a shirt on and some sweatpants before living the bedroom quietly and headed downstairs to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

He was met with his father sitting by the table, reading the newspaper while drinking coffee.

“Morning, dad.”

“Morning, Niall.” His father asked him.

Niall went to the fridge to grab some eggs when his father spoke, “Niall, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course, dad, what is it?” he said, placing the eggs on the counter and turning around to look at his father, then moving to seat in front on him on the table.

Bobby sighed, “I just wanted to ask you about Liam.”

Niall frowned in confusion, “what about him?”

“Are you happy with him?”

Niall then frowned again but this with a little of anger, “of course I am, dad, can’t you see it?”

“It’s just- it’s hard for me, you know, you come back after all this time, and it’s not that I’m not greatful, I really am, son, believe me, but it’s… weird. You’ve never liked boys but then you suddenly got a boyfriend.”

“And what’s wrong about that?”

“Nothing, just… he’s not forcing you into anything, right? Making you do things you don’t want to?”

Niall then stood up and looked at his father, anger and disbelief in his eyes, he couldn’t believe his father was questioning his relationship, who was he to do that?! “How dare you say those things about him, dad, I love him!”

“But son-“

“No! Liam’s the most important thing I have, he saved my life, he pulled me up when I was living in the worst way, he picked me up from the streets I live for two years and he just-“ he cut himself when he realized what he just told his dad.

“I’m sorry?” his father asked confused.

“I- I- that’s why I didn’t want to tell you about, see?”

“You’ve been living on the streets all this time? Niall, that’s-“

“Don’t. I don’t want your pity, you were the ones who threw me out, I don’t blame you but yes, my life wasn’t the best, okay? Liam helped me up on my feet and then it all just happened.”

“I can’t believe you had to go through that, I want to be angry but just-“

“You should be, dad, with yourself, you have no idea how many times I wish I could come back home but no, I was away, in a different country all by myself with absolutely nothing and just because you couldn’t deal with a teenage son!” Niall’s voice was starting to rise again.

“Nor your mother or I wanted that to happen, Niall, it’s not our fault, but I am so sorry about it, I wish I could amend that mistake but it’s done now.”

“And you think you can go and talk shit about Liam,” Niall sighed angrily, “he’s done a lot more for me that you’ve done in a while.”

“I just don’t want you to be with him just because he helped you or-“

“Ooooh no, don’t even try that, you know nothing about him or about us, why can’t you just accept that I am happy?”

“Because it’s weird!” his father exclaimed, “I wanted a normal life for you but-“

“Nothing’s normal about my life anymore, I’ve changed in ways I would’ve never thought, I’m a different person now!“ Niall was yelling and gesticulating with his hands.

“But Niall, please think about-“

“No!” Niall yelled at him and ran upstairs to the bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

“What’s going on?” Liam asked sleepy.

“We’re leaving.” Niall said with a cold voice collecting some of his stuff.

“What? What do you mean we’re leaving? We arrived here two d-“ Liam said in confusion before being cut by the blond.

“Just put some clothes on and we’ll go somewhere, I’ll tell you on the way.”

Liam got up and started putting some clothes on but tried to ask anyways, “did something happen? Did I do something?”

“No, Li, you didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just- my dad- you’re perfect, alright? Don’t worry about it.” Niall said and kissed him and some kind of relief ran through his body when he did.

“Niall, come ba-“ his father said opening the door suddenly and the boys pulled away, “Niall, come back here so we can talk properly.”

“I have nothing to talk to you about, dad, it’s all said. Now if you excuse us, we’re leaving.” Niall said grabbing his suitcase, luckily they haven’t taken anything out of it yet.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Yes, we are.” He said and tried to pass the door threshold.

“Niall, I’m your father and I’m telling you to stay.” Bobby said then with a firm voice.

“Yeah? Well, you’ve done a shitty job at it for the past time, I’m not a child anymore so I make my own decisions and right now, is leaving.” He said walking past him, Liam behind him looking down at the floor, confused as ever, leaving Bobby standing there.

*

“Care to explain what the hell is going on?” Liam asked Niall, his voice maybe a little harsh, as they walked out the front door.

Niall sighed, “let’s just go somewhere and I’ll tell you.”

“But where are we supposed to go?” Liam asked exasperated.

“I don’t know!”

“Then where are we walking towards to?!”

“I don’t know, Liam, I don’t know!”

Liam just sighed in exasperation and stopped walking and just sat on the street.

“Liam, what the fuck are you doing, let’s go!”

“Go where?! Walk around town with our suitcases?!”

Well this wasn’t going well, Niall was beyond irritated by his father and now Liam. Of course he knew it wasn’t Liam’s fault, but he just wanted to go somewhere. Anywhere. Nowhere. Whatever.

“I just-“ Niall started talking but cut himself off, “I don’t know.”

Liam looked at him and now that he paid attention he could see Niall was upset and a glint of sadness in his eyes, he didn’t even had the time to notice that back at Niall’s house because this all happened so fast.

“I’m sorry, Ni,” Liam said with a sigh, “is there any place we can go stay? I mean, it doesn’t look like we’re coming back there.”

Niall looked down at the floor, “sorry I ruined everything.”

“I’m sure you didn’t.” Liam stated, “now, any hotel or something near?”

Niall lifted his head and then his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, “I think there’s a small but nice one a few blocks away from here.”

“Lead the way then.” The older boy said standing up.

*

The hotel was six blocks away from Niall’s old house and a bit nearer the centre of the town. It was a small place but nice, quite neat, Liam liked that, plus, the people working there seemed pretty nice.

They asked the receptionist, a middle age woman, for a room and she smiled at them and handed them a key for a room in the third floor. They took the elevator and walked down the hall and opened the door to their room. It wasn’t that big, there was a double bed with a medium sized TV in the wall opposite to it, a bedside table with a lamp on each side of the bed, some paintings on the walls and a window to the street. A door that lead to a bathroom on the right side of the room.

They placed their bags in a corner and Niall went to sit on the edge of the bed, “I think I’ll sleep some, it’s still early,” he said, “you can go out if you want, or you can come sleep too, I don’t know, whatever you want to.” He said to Liam. The truth was they haven’t said that much to each other on their way to the hotel, Liam was confused about what had happened back at Niall’s  house and wanted to know about it but the blond was trying to avoid it, he didn’t want to tell Liam what his father said, it would make him feel like shit.

“I think I’ll just stay and watch some TV, does it bother you? I can go back to the lobby and read or something if you want.” The older boy shrugged.

“No, no, you can stay.” Niall told him with a little smile and took his clothes off and got in the bed. It wasn’t as comfortable as his or Liam’s back in London but it’ll have to do for now. And it wasn’t nearly as comfortable as when he had someone to snuggle close to.

Liam just sat on the bed next to Niall, his back against the bed’s headboard and turned the TV on, the volume low so it wouldn’t bother Niall who was fast asleep.

Liam had spent maybe forty five minutes watching the TV but not really paying any attention to it, his mind was somewhere else, he couldn’t stop thinking about what could have been that bothered Niall so much he wanted to live, he’ll have to ask sooner or later. He sighed as he felt Niall squirming next to him so he turned to look at him and Niall had a frown on his face. He moved his hand and ran his finger through the blond’s hair and saw his face relax a little and he went back to the TV.

Five minutes later, Niall started moving around again, his eyebrows furrowed again, and this time a gasp escaped his lips. He was clearly having a nightmare or something.

“Niall, wake up.” Liam said with his hand on the blond’s shoulder, shaking him slightly.

“No, no, don’t hurt me- please!” Niall said and Liam was taken aback, _what the hell?_

Liam then turned his whole body so he was facing the blond, “Ni! Wake up, Ni, come on.” He said shaking harder this time.

Niall then stopped and opened his eyes abruptly, focusing his eyes on Liam and launched himself at him, wrapping his arms around him.

“It’s okay, it was just a nightmare, you’re okay.” Liam soothed him, running his hands up and down his back.

Niall sighed as he pulled apart from Liam.

“You okay? You want to talk about it?” the older boy asked him.

Niall didn’t answer right away, “just a memory from when I started living on the streets back two years ago in London.”

Liam frowned, “what happened?”

“Don’t really remember, some guys beat me up, next day I woke up on a shelter full of bruises.” He shrugged.

“I’m sorry.” Liam said quietly and hugged him again, “You’re okay now.”

“I know.” The blond said letting out a long breath.

“Want to tell me what happened today?” Liam asked still quietly, he didn’t want to upset Niall again.

“I don’t want to tell you, you’ll be mad.” Niall said looking down.

“No, I promise I won’t be mad, Ni, tell me? Please?”

Niall shook his head no and Liam was looking at him with that puppy look that made him give up, he sighed, “Okay,” he said and Liam nodded to show he was paying attention, “so I woke up early today and I wanted to make breakfast and carry it to bed, so when I went into the kitchen, I found my dad and he wanted to talk to me, so I just sat down with him.” He said, Liam was looking at him, not saying a word. Niall continued, “he wanted to ask me about you, you know,” Liam nodded as he talked, “because he thought it was weird that I never showed any signs of liking boys and then disappear for two years and when I come back I have a boyfriend,” Niall shrugged, “but then he asked me if I was happy with you and I said that of course I am, but he’s stubborn and he asked me if you, if you, uhm… if you were making me do something I didn’t want to, if you were forcing me into something.” Niall said and Liam frowned. “And then I got mad, how can he say that horrible things about you, Liam? You’re all I have! And then I just spilled everything out about how I lived on the streets the past two years and I know- I know I shouldn’t have but- but it just came out and I told him how you picked me up from the bottom, how my life was complete shit until I met you and that then it all just happened.” He finished and Liam was about to speak but Niall cut him off, “I just want you to know that I don’t regret this one bit, Liam, you’re my whole life.” He told him, holding the older boy’s face between his hands.

Liam smiled sweetly at him and took Niall’s hands away, “it’s okay, I’m not mad,” he told him, “I understand your dad-“

“Are you fucking kidding me, Liam?!” Niall cut him, “after all those horrible things he said about you, he almost implied that you raped me or something!”

“Ni, it’s okay, really,” Liam said calmly, putting his hand on Niall’s cheek, “I understand him, it’s weird for him, he didn’t know and he’s just trying to protect you, you’re his son, of course he’s not going to trust me that easily.”

“One thing is not to trust you, Liam, and a different thing is to say what he had said.”

“You should have talked to me, Ni. I could have just talked to your dad or something.”

“I don’t want you to talk to him. I don’t even want to talk to him right now, I wanna go home.” He said, falling forward, his face resting on Liam’s collarbone as they were still sitting on the bed.

“We can’t do that, Ni. Actually, I don’t want to leave until you talk to him, fix things, I want you back to your old happy self, not this, I don’t like this upset Niall.”

Niall sighed, “I’m sorry.” He mumbled.

“It’s alright,” Liam smiled at him and pecked him on the lips, “now, it’s almost lunch time, how about we go grab some food?” he asked and Niall nodded and smiled weakly.

*

After they had eaten lunch, they decided to take a walk around, it was sunny outside but there was a slight breeze so the heat wasn’t that unbearable. They were walking towards a park when Niall’s phone started ringing. Greg.

“Hello?”

“Bro! I thought you wouldn’t pick up.”

Niall frowned even though his brother couldn’t see him, “why would I do that?”

“Dad told mum about your fight and she told me, and I thought maybe you might not want to talk to us.”

“Nah, Greg, the thing’s with dad, nothing wrong with you and mum.”

“Then would you come over so we can talk? I don’t want you to get into some kind of fight with dad and lose you again when I just got my brother back!”

Niall rolled his eyes but smiled at those words, “alright, I think we can go there. Text me your address or something though.”

“Right, I’ll text you right now, see you later!”

He hung up and turned to Liam, “we’re going to Greg’s” he smiled just as he received a text from his brother.

They took a taxi because Greg’s house exactly in the opposite direction of where they were walking even though the ride there wasn’t long.

Greg didn’t live in a flat, he lived in a quite nice house if you asked them. It wasn’t really big but it looked comfortable. They rang the bell and soon the door was opened by Greg. They all said hi and Niall’s brother step aside to let them in.

“I’m sorry about dad, Ni, he can be a jerk sometimes, you know that.” He said as they sat down on the living room.

“I know, he just- I was just so pissed, I don’t know how he can say those things, he didn’t even take the time to properly know Liam!”

“Don’t worry about it, Ni, I told you,” Liam said looking at his boy friend, then turned to Greg, “I think I might like to talk to him, let him know I’m not some creep.”

“I think that would work, you think I should call him?”

“No!” Niall exclaimed, “I don’t want to talk to him!”

“Niall,” Liam said and turned to him with a serious face, “I’m doing this for you so can you please stop acting like that?” and by ‘like that’ he meant ‘stop acting like a child and let me do this’.

Niall sighed in defeat and his back hit the sofa, crossing his arms against his chest, “fine.”

Greg called his parents and they told him they would be there as soon as possible, of course that was Maura, always wanting to fix everything. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do in a family?

They watched some football game that was on the telly until the bell of Greg’s house rang, and he went to open the door to let his parents in.

“Niall, honey, I’m so sorry about everything, your father didn’t mean any of those things!” Maura said quickly, flying over Niall to hug him.

“You shouldn’t be apologizing to me, mum, you should apologize to Liam.”

Liam smiled at Niall’s mother, “I already told Niall that I am not mad or anything, I get that you might be confused with everything that’s going on.” He said as both parents took a seat on the other couch.

“No, Niall is right, son,” Bobby stated, “this is all so new to me and I didn’t know how to handle it, I shouldn’t have judged you but I need you to know that even though I made some mistakes in the past, Niall is still my son and I worry about him.”

“Bullshit.” Niall mumbled under his breath rolling his eyes and Liam nudged him on the ribs.

“I know, Mr. Horan, and that is exactly what I told Niall when he told me what happened. I wanted to sit down with you and tell you about me if that’s what you want to do, I still have to earn your trust if I want Niall in my life even if he doesn’t consider that necessary.”

Niall was amused by how formal Liam could be while talking to his parents, he knew Liam was good educated and polite but this wasn’t necessary, his father had been a jerk and he was still trying. Oh, how he loved Liam.

“Okay,” Niall’s father said, “I think I’d be okay with talking, we can make this work, alright? For Niall.”

Liam smiled and nodded, “for Niall.” Everything he did was always for Niall.

*

It was a long afternoon after that, Niall’s parents had asked Liam about his life, his family, the city he grew up in, his friends, his studies and where he worked, how him and Niall met, which meant, Niall had explained them from the very beginning what had happened to him (not without his mother breaking up in tears at how her baby had to go through that and how guilty she felt) and Niall said it was okay, that they were already forgiven because it wasn’t their fault, it was his and they decided not talk about it and then the questions kept coming and they even asked about their sex life and then both boys blushed and Niall said they didn’t need to talk about that and then his mother reminded him they had always had to use protection and all Niall wanted was the earth to open up and eat him alive, but he just nodded with his cheeks red as an apple, even though they barely used it because they didn’t thought it was necessary ‘cause they were both clean, but he wasn’t about to tell his mother that.

*

After that afternoon of long talking, the boys decided they were coming back to Niall’s house the next day so he could have that night to theirselves in the hotel. If you know what that means.

Both, them and Niall’s parents where more than happy to be together again, Niall’s father now a lot more accepting of Liam and they even had some good chats.

They all went down to have dinner out one night of the week, Greg with Denisse, as she was almost part of the family too, and had a great time.

Seriously, Niall couldn’t be any happier of how everything had turned out even though that little slip the third day. He was happy his family took him back and that Liam was always there by his side and try to make everything right whenever something turned wrong.

When it was time for them to finally leave and go back to London, Maura, Bobby and Greg went to the airport with them to say goodbye, Niall’s mother of course in the verge of crying, which made the blond roll his eyes but hug her tight, he was going to miss her. At least everything was good now.

After hugging and promising they’ll be back soon, or that they would have to visit them in London some day, Maura saying she would like to meet Liam’s family some day because they seemed lovely from what Liam had told them, the boys boarded the plane and not after they took off.

This time Liam didn’t fall asleep on the plane, quite the opposite, Niall did, and he was almost drooling on Liam’s shirt.

“Niall, come on, wake up, we’re about to land and you’re drooling on my shirt!”

“asldfjkwhat?” Niall said opening his eyes, making Liam chuckle.

“We’re about to land, love, come on.”

After their landing and searching for their suitcases, which took them more than half an hour because the man dealing with that was stupid (Niall’s words), they head to Zayn’s place to get Ash. Oh, how they missed him!

They rang the bell to Zayn’s flat to find Harry standing there looking not very happy.

“Harry? You don’t look very good, mate.”

Harry let out a sigh and was about to speak when Ash came running and barking, moving his tail from side to side.

“Ash!” Niall said and dropped to his knees to hug his dog, “I missed you so much, buddy! You are bigger now!”

Harry looked down to see Niall and smiled at him but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Everything alright there, mate?” the blond asked him.

“I fought with Louis, well, more like, he fought with me and now I’m staying with Zayn,” he said and then stepped aside to let them in, “come in and I’ll tell you about it.”

Niall stood up again and grabbed his bags and entered the flat with Ash, Liam behind them, giving Harry a small smile and a pat in the back, the door closing behind them.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think this is the chapter everyone was waiting for, so here it is.  
> I think I'm boring you guys with this story, maybe I did it too long, so I really don't know if I want to finish it, maybe I'll just take a break from this story or from writing for a while. Still don't know though, maybe I'll finish it, maybe I won't, maybe I'll just move on to write something else, I'll think about it. But just in case, thank you to all who read this, it means a lot to me that you liked it (or I hope you did), ily all. <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That if I get the job, or whatever job, I’m going to spoil you, I’ll buy you tickets to those matches you want to go so bad, and I’ll buy you books about that boring medical stuff but that you really like, and I’ll buy you lots of fast food because you like it, and chocolates and I’ll take you out on dates and all those things you’ve been doing for me all this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is more of a larry chapter and it's not so long, but heyyy, it's un update!  
> (read the notes at the end!)

“So what happened?” Liam asked Harry as they sat down on Zayn’s sofa in the living room.

Harry just let his body fell and hit the couch and let out a long sigh, “it’s… complicated and confusing and-“ he didn’t finish his sentence and he was cut by Zayn entering the room.

“Hey!” the dark hair guy exclaimed as he saw his two friends sitting in his sofa, “how was your trip?”

“It was good,” Niall said, standing up to hug him, “with some misunderstandings and little fights but we got to fix them.”

“Misunderstandings?” Harry said frowning.

“Yeah… with my dad, I kind of had a fight with him and-“

“Kind of a fight?” Liam asked and raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend, “you made us leave your house, that wasn’t just a ‘kind of a fight’, Ni.”

“You left your house? What- what the fuck?” Zayn asked now sitting down next to Harry.

“I- I don’t know if I want to tell you the whole story, that’s kind of between me and him. And Liam.” Niall stated, “Let’s just say that he wasn’t very keen on me being with Liam and he said some awful things about him without really knowing him and I got mad so I decided to leave the house,” he shrugged, “but like, I didn’t tell Liam what happened and he was confused as fuck so we went to some hotel in the centre of the town and I told him what happened and he actually snapped at me-“

“He snapped at you?” Harry asked surprise, “Liam isn’t capable of snapping at anyone, let alone you.”

Niall laughed, “he did, I mean, he told me he understood my dad and that he wanted to sit down with him and talk so he could get to know him and well, we talked to my brother and he talked to my parents and he did sit down with Liam and I think he accepted it pretty well.”

“Yeah, it was very good, actually, I think I got to him.” Liam added.

“What did you tell him?” Zayn asked, “I mean, we don’t even know what happened so it’s still kind of confusing but yeah, I’m glad you worked it out.”

“I don’t know, just told him about myself,” he shrugged, “I just didn’t want Niall to be away from his family again, he looked so happy when he saw them,” Liam said turning to look at Niall with a smile that was reciprocated by the blond, “so I just sucked it up and did what needed to be done I guess.”

“Aw, you’re such a good boyfriend, Liam.” Harry said, mocking him and batting his eyelashes.

“Shut up, you.” Liam said laughing and threw a pillow, that was resting on the sofa next to him, at Harry. “Now it’s your turn, are you going to tell us wha- Ash!” Liam exclaimed without finishing his sentence as Ash jumped to his lap and started licking his face, “stop it!” he told his dog laughing.

“Shush, Ash, we’re trying to have a conversation here” Niall said to his dog and put him down from Liam’s lap but he started barking and his tail was swinging from side to side. Niall couldn’t help but laugh and patted him in the head, “we missed you too, budy.”

“He was good, right?” Liam asked Zayn.

“Yeah, he was good, kind of hyper sometimes so I had to take him for a walk so he could loose energy. He’s up too early too, walks during the morning were the worst.” Zayn told them and narrowed his eyes playfully at Ash.

Niall and Liam laughed, “that’s because you’re not a morning person.”

“Well, yeah… but he was great, it’s a good company too.”

“Yes, you are, aren’t you, Ash?” Niall asked his dog in a sweet voice, as if he was talking to a little child and the dog barked happily.

“Mate, you treat your dog like he’s your son.” Zayn laughed.

“Well, he kind of is, you know?”

“Aww, imagine this two being parents,” Harry said to Zayn, nudging him on the ribs.

“They’d be sickening cute, I- no, please don’t, guys.”

Liam chuckled, “don’t worry, we’re not planning on that yet.”

“Yet?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow, “what do you mean ‘yet’?”

“I- we-“ Liam started but couldn’t finish, well that was because he didn’t even know how to answer that, so he turned to look at Niall with a look of ‘HELP’ and Niall just shrugged.

“Did you two actually have that talk? Oh my God, I’m going to be an uncle!” Harry exclaimed.

Liam groaned and let his body hit the back of the sofa and covered his face with his hands and Niall just burst out laughing.

“We didn’t have ‘that talk’, it just kind of happened.” Niall shrugged.

“Okay, I don’t want to know what goes on inside your personal lives, can we please move on?” Zayn asked.

“Yes, please.” Liam said, sitting straight again, “now,” he started, looking at Harry, “can any of you please tell us what is going with Louis?”

Harry let out a sigh again, “it’s just, we were-“

“Louis just freaked out about what was going on between them, that’s all, not a big deal.” Zayn commented, rolling his eyes.

“How is that not a big deal, Zayn?!” Harry exclaimed, turning to look at his friend.

“Wait, wait,” Liam stopped them before they could start arguing, “explain properly. And why didn’t you tell us anything when we talked on the phone?”

Zayn sat more comfortable in the couch, his back resting on the sofa as he was about the hear the story for the million time as Harry sat with his elbows on his knees, his face resting on his hands.

“I didn’t want to worry you with this while you were there, we’ll probably go back to normal soon. Or at least I hope.”

“You know you will, Louis loves you.” Zayn told him, his head resting on the back of the sofa, his eyes closed.

“How do you know that? You say that all the time!” Harry asked throwing his hands up in the air.

“I just do, Harry, I’m very perceptive even though you think I never pay attention to you.”

“Okay, if you say so.” Harry said rolling his eyes, and turned to Niall and Liam again, “the thing is, remember how we talked that day in your kitchen and you told me you were going to talk to Louis?” he asked Liam and he nodded, “well, whatever it was that you said to him, it worked, or kind of did, ‘cause then we had a talk, a long one, and I told him how- how I feel and he told me how he was feeling, like, it was important to me, you know? ‘Cause he already knew about me, I just wanted to know how he felt, I wanted him to open to me and yeah, not the way I wanted to but it kind of happened, same results I mean. So we agreed we’ll try something, so we went on… a date? If you can call it like that, but I don’t know, Louis felt weird so it was weird for me too, you know? Like he wanted to be there but at the same time, he didn’t, and I didn’t like it, I wanted him- I want him to be comfortable around me, like we always were but I don’t know, something was wrong…”

“What was wrong? I mean, what happened?” Liam asked him.

“It’s just- we went to the movies that day, right? So we watched a film, chat a lot and all but then when we got home again after, he kissed me, like, _he_ kissed _me_ , not the other way around, and I was shocked at first ‘cause I didn’t think he’ll give that step but hey, why not? But when I started to kiss him back he pulled away and he freaked out- _really_ freaked out.”

“Well that’s pretty much like him, he can create quite drama.” Liam said aloud but it was more like talking to himself.

“Yeah, I know, but he started saying that it was wrong, that it shouldn’t be like that because we’re friends and he never thought about a boy like that and ‘no offence to you, Harry, but it’s just weird’” Harry said imitating Louis’ voice, “and that it was all confusing and what the fuck was happening to him. And I mean, if he doesn’t know, how should I?”

“So you just left?” Niall spoke this time.

“No, I asked him if he wanted some time to himself and he told me he would so I came here, but I didn’t tell him I would just go. He didn’t try and talk to me yet, but he knows I’m here.” He shrugged.

“And have you seen Louis, Zayn?”

“Yeah, I did, it’s weird cause he’s like trying to act like his normal self but you can tell he’s not, like something’s off.”

“Why don’t you just try and talk to him?” Niall asked Harry.

“Because I don’t want him to feel like I’m pressing him into something. I mean, if you and Liam were in the same situation, would you just go and ask him even if you know he’s not that comfortable around you?”

“Probably, yeah.”

“But that’s just because you’re really straight forward and very anxious, it doesn’t apply to them.” Liam turned to Niall.

“Yes, but I mean, the only thing to fix things is talking, right? And there’s no communication between them, how do you expect them to fix anything?” the blond said.

“Time.” Liam answered simple.

“That’s bullshit, Li, I mean, the more you wait, the more worked up you get, there’s no point in that.”

“Maybe, I see your point but if you think about how Louis is then you know is not that easy.”

“Guys, you’re just making this worse.” Zayn spoke.

“You want to go back home, Harry? You want to go and see Louis?” Niall asked him.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Then come to ours at night, you too Zayn, we can use the ‘hey guys, haven’t seen you in a week and we need to catch up with our trip to Ireland’ excuse so we all get together and see what happens, he doesn’t need to know we’ve been here and that we know.” Niall shrugged.

“But I’ll have to clean the flat, bet it’s all covered in dust!” Liam whined.

“Liam, we were away for a week not a decade, what are you even talking about? Plus, I thought our plans for today included catching up in all the sex we hadn’t have in a week, not cleaning.”

Zayn looked at him with a disgusted face and exclaimed an “eeew, I didn’t need to know that!” and Harry just burst out laughing while Liam shook his head and covered his face with one of his hands.

“You guys always manage to make me laugh,” Harry said when he stopped laughing.

“You’re welcome,” the blond told him, “but in my defense, I was being serious. Now, let’s go home, Liam, and I’ll see you two at night, alright guys?” he said while standing up and grabbing Ash’s leash and his suitcase.

“Alright.” Harry said, “you talking to Louis, right Liam?”

“Yeah, I’ll text him or give him a call when I get home.”

“Okay, see you guys at night then,” Harry said and walked them to the door. “Use protection!” he yelled at them while they walked down the corridor to take the elevator to go down which had Liam groaning and Niall laughing.

*

By the time they both got back to their flat, Niall was right, there wasn’t dust everywhere, “told you” he said to Liam and the older boy just rolled his eyes.

They opened the windows to renew the air because it was fucking hot inside there from being all closed for a week.

They went to their bedroom where they left their bags which they will unpack later and then Niall tacked Liam to the bed, “so… nap then sex or sex then nap?” he asked, placing a kiss below the older boy’s ear.

“You really have a one track mind, don’t you?” he asked and Niall smirked, “sex then nap it is.”

*

When Liam woke up, it was almost six in the afternoon and he could hear Niall’s soft snores right next to him. He let out a sigh and thought how good it felt to be home again even though they were away for just a week. Not that he didn’t like Niall’s family, he did, leaving aside their little misunderstanding, everything went great.

He stayed in bed, listening to Niall’s breathing and looking at the ceiling when- “shit, I forgot to call Lou” he mumbled to himself and moved to sit up and get up from the bed when his wrist was grabbed by Niall and he fell down on the bed again.

“Where are you going?” the blond asked, his voice still groggy with sleep, turning around to face Liam.

“I forgot to call Lou to tell him to come over tonight.”

“Just text him and stay here with me a little longer, will yah’?”

“Alright.” Liam said, smiling at him. He realized Niall’s accent went a lot thicker during this week, maybe him himself sounded a little irish? Sure, you wish, Liam. But he liked it, it was part of Niall, and not only it was hotter, it was the cutest too even though sometimes it was a little difficult to understand what he was saying.

Liam took his phone from his bedside table and sent Louis a message telling him to come over that night. Two minutes later, his phone was vibrating nonstop.

“Hello?” Liam asked when he picked up.

“Hey Liam, how was your trip to Ireland?” Louis voice came from the speaker.

“It was good, it’s so different from London though, but really nice,” he told his friend, “now, why are you calling? You rarely call.”

“Why, you’re offending me, Liam, can’t I just call my friend who’s back from a trip?”

Liam rolled his eyes even though Louis couldn’t see him, “yes, you can but that’s not the reason you called, am I right?”

Louis let out a sigh on the phone, “Right. I, uhm… I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it, Lou?” Liam asked and moved his phone a little away from his ear so Niall (who was half lying on top of him now, by the way) could listen too.

“Is Harry going over too? I mean, tonight.”

Liam decided to lie about it and ask so he could get Louis’ side of the story too, “I texted him too, I don’t know, he lives with you?” he said more as a question, trying to sound confused as to why would Louis ask him that.

“Don’t fuck with me, Liam, you already know he’s not here.”

“He’s not?” Liam asked again trying to sound confused again.

“No, he’s not. Didn’t he tell you though?”

“He didn’t, I mean, I just came back home today, Lou, I haven’t seen anyone yet.”

“But didn’t he tell you on the phone?”

“Did you tell me on the phone?”

“No.”

“Then why would he?”

“I don’t know, he’s… he always tends to talk about how he’s feeling with everyone and he always tells you everything, I thought- I thought he must have told you.”

“Well he obviously didn’t, so why don’t you tell me now that we’re talking.”

“I- we-“ he started he cut himself and Liam could hear him take a long breath, “remember when we talked? That you told me I should just give it a go and see how it goes?”

Liam nodded and then remembered Louis couldn’t see him, that made Niall had to suppress a chuckle and Liam rolled his eyes and smiled, then spoke again, “yes, I remember, so what?”

“Well… we might had have a talk and- and we decided we’ll give it a try-“

“Hey, that’s awesome, Lou!” Liam interrupted him, trying to sound enthusiastic even though he already knew how it ended up.

“Well things didn’t turn out that good if he’s not here now, don’t you think, Liam?” Louis asked him and Liam could sense something like bitterness or sadness in his voice.

“Do you want him to be there with you?” Liam asked simply.

“I- yeah, I guess I do.”

“Then why don’t you call him?”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t!” Louis said almost yelling, frustration in his voice.

“Alright, Lou, calm down. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Nothing- nothing really happened, we kind of went to a date, you know? To see a movie. It was… weird at first, not because of him, no, it’s just- I don’t know, man, I felt weird.”

“And what happened then?”

“Nothing, we saw the movie and then came back here.”

“I don’t understand? Like, why is he not there then?”

“I- I might have kissed him that day when we came back.” Louis said, almost whispering.

“And what’s so bad about that?”

“I kissed him first but then pulled away and told him it was wrong but-“

“But what? Do you think it is?”

“I don’t know. No. No, it’s not. It’s just-“ the older boy cut himself and let out a desperate sigh, “I don’t know, Liam, I don’t know what’s happening to me!”

“I know, it’s confusing, but just don’t let that feeling take over the situation, just do what makes you happy, yeah?”

“I- okay.”

“Are you coming over later?”

“Sure.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later then, bye Lou.”

“Bye.” Louis said and then the line went dead.

Liam then stretched his arm to put his phone on the nightstand again.

“Those two are so in love it’s actually funny they are so oblivious.” Niall said smiling, he was still half lying in top of Liam, his eyes closed.

“I know, I think they’ll come around tonight, we’ll see. It’s cute though.”

“They are. But no one’s cuter than us.” Niall said, his arms wrapping a little tighter around Liam’s body.

“No one is even going to be cuter than us. Never.” Liam answered and placed a kiss on his boyfriend’s head.

*

Zayn and Harry came over at the boy’s house around eight, Liam opened the door for them while Niall carried some beers to the living room. Liam didn’t miss the expression on Harry’s face when he entered the room, first expecting and then it fell when he didn’t saw Louis.

“He’ll come, you know he’s always late.” Liam told his friend in a whisper and Harry gave him a small smile and nodded.

They all sat down on the sofa, a football game playing on the background and Liam knew Harry thought that it wasn’t the same to watch a game without Louis ‘cause he’ll be yelling at the screen, because he felt the same. He really did want to fix whatever happened between them but he knew it wasn’t his place so he’ll do the only thing he could came up with, give them a little push.

They sat around talking about nothing as they decided Niall and Liam would tell them about Ireland when Louis was there so they wouldn’t have to tell things twice. Then decided on ordering some pizza, which for some reason, took them like fifteen minutes to decide which ones they wanted.

It was about eight thirty when Louis knocked on the flat’s door and Niall stood up from the couch to open the door.

“Hello!” the blond said opening the door to his friend.

“Is your accent stronger now? Is it?” Louis asked excited.

“I don’t know, Liam says it is though.”

“It is!” Louis said laughing and hugging Niall.

Harry, who was looking from his spot on the sofa, was having mixed feelings, on one hand, he was almost kind of relieved that Louis was his happy self but on the other hand, he felt a little sad, did he or at least his friendship mean nothing to him? Did he not feel a little bad? Not even a little bit?

Louis then entered the flat and hugged Liam and Zayn, who he hadn’t seen a lot because well… Harry was always at his. When Louis got to Harry it seemed like the time stopped for both of them as they looked at each other. Well, at least Harry could see something on Louis’ eyes even though he wasn’t sure what it was and then the older boy gave him a half hug, not a real hug but it was something, it’ll have to do for now. It was quick and Louis pulled away and sat down next to him on the arm chair, he was trying to play it cool, oh, how well he knew him.

“So boys,” Louis said clapping his hands together, “how was Ireland?”

And then Liam and Niall proceeded to tell them about their staying in there, from where they arrived until they came back. They told Louis about the little misunderstanding with Niall’s dad, but Zayn and Harry had to act like they didn’t know because Louis thought they hadn’t seen them yet either. Louis actually laughed a lot when Niall told them about how his father asked him if Liam was making him do “things” he didn’t want to, the blond was actually embarrassed, he didn’t want to tell them the details but they insisted and well, he did. All the guys laughed at that but Louis burst out laughing because “Liam could never force anyone into anything!” and Niall looked at Liam with an arched eyebrow because Liam could be demanding if he wanted to, but he just kept his mouth shut.

When the pizza arrived they almost kill each other over a slice of it even though there was more than enough for them. That was what made them happy, those nights of doing absolutely nothing but eat pizza and play Xbox and chat about whatever was on their minds while drinking beer.

Niall’s phone started buzzing while in the middle of some FIFA and he excused himself as he picked up, with a light frown because he couldn’t recognize the number and went into the kitchen to talk.

As there were just four of them in the living room, Liam decided it was a good idea to play FIFA in two teams of two.

“So… let’s play teams, two against two, I’ll go with Zayn.” Liam suggested and moved to sit next to Zayn.

“Smooth move there, Liam.” Zayn said with a chuckle.

Liam was actually waiting for either Louis or Harry to glare or snap at him, but that never happened, huh, weird. Either things weren’t that bad then or Louis was very good at playing it cool and so was Harry. But he knew better, things were going to just explode any minute, he could feel it.

They took their controllers and picked a team each one, and started playing, and when they were five minutes into the game, Niall appeared out of the kitchen door, a smile on his face, “Liam, can you come here a minute, please?”

Liam then pressed the pause button and excused himself, “I’ll be right back and we’ll finish this.” He said and walked inside the kitchen behind the blond. “What is it with that big smile?” he asked, smiling himself a little.

“I just got a job interview!” Niall exclaimed, his smile bigger.

“Ni, that is wonderful!” Liam exclaimed hugging him. “Wait,” he said and pulled apart from his boyfriend’s body, “where did that interview came from? I never noticed you looking for a job.” The older boy added with a slight frown.

Niall then shrugged, “I looked up on the internet, sent some C.V.s like, a week ago I think. Doesn’t matter, isn’t this great? I’ll get to see the real world, working as what I always wanted to. I mean, if I get the job, that is.”

“You will, Ni, I’m so happy for you!” Liam told him and went to hug him again, wrapping his arms around the blond’s middle. He’ll have to get use to it, if Niall got the job, the fact of him not being around all the time, but he knew it was good, he was starting to do things for himself.

Niall let his arms wrap around the older boy’s neck and spoke, “if I get this job, I’m going to buy you a lot of things, going to spoil you so much, Li, you’ll see.”

Liam laughed, “no need to, as long as you come back to me everyday after work, that’s all I need.”

“I know,” Niall said and disentangled his arms from around Liam, “but still.”

Liam then squinted his eyes, “we’ll see about that, I’ll have to spoil you even more then.”

“I’ll still win.” Niall commented and stuck his tongue out.

“We’ll see about that.” The older boy said, placing a kiss on the other boy’s lips. “Why didn’t you just came and tell us all in the living room?” he asked.

The blond shrugged, “don’t know, felt like I should tell you first.”

“Fair enough-“ Liam started but was cut by Zayn yelling at him.

“LIAM I CAN CUT THE TENSION WITH A KNIFE HERE, COME BACK!” Zayn’s voice came to the kitchen and Liam chuckled but could already imagine Harry and Louis glaring at him.

“Shit,” Liam said, “I left Zayn with the other two, I have a game to win, you coming?”

“I’ll grab some more beers and I’ll go.” He said and Liam nodded before going back to the living room.

When Liam was back, he sat on the sofa next to Zayn and pulsed the play button again, he noticed Louis and Harry were still sitting next to each other but not looking at each other but to the TV screen instead.

The game continued, Louis was as good at FIFA as he was at playing real football, but Harry wasn’t.

“HARRY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Louis yelled, pulsing at every button on his controller.

“I’m sorry.” Harry would murmur and continue playing.

Niall was back, he was sitting next to Liam on the sofa, his body pressed against the older boy’s body even though it was enough space for him to sit comfortably.

The game continued for a few more minutes.

“We’re a good team.” Liam said to Zayn.

“We are definitely not,” Louis said and turned to Harry, “you’re shit at this game.”

“Well you’re shit at dealing with feelings and people.” Harry mumbled under his breath.

“I’m sorry?” Louis asked him.

“What you’ve heard.” Harry answered, and the three other boys sitting on the other sofa looked at each other with questioning looks, they knew what Harry was talking about, they didn’t knew what Louis was going to do about- and then Louis hit Harry. Straight on the face. Liam opened his eyes wide and moved to stand up and move to separate them but Niall stopped him and shook his head no.

“What the fuck did you do tha-“ Harry began to ask but was cut by Louis, and what happened wasn’t anything the rest of the boys were expecting. Louis had grabbed the younger boy’s face with his hands and pressed his lips to Harry’s with so much force they almost fell of the couch.

The rest of the boys looked at each other with knowing looks and small smiles and slowly and without making much noise, they got up and went into the kitchen, closing the door behind them, leaving Harry and Louis to… solve their problems while snogging? Whatever.

“So that was so not what I was expecting.” Liam said with a chuckle and an amused face.

“Yeah, me neither, mate, what the fuck.” Zayn told them.

“I was expecting that, to be honest.” Niall commented.

“How did you know?” Liam asked him.

“Li, you could sense the sexual tension in there, Jesus, I thought one of them was going to rape the other right there.”

Zayn then laughed, “you’re right, man, but still, it’s kind of shocking.”

“Well, now it’s up to them, I guess.”

After several time spent in the kitchen, they heard Louis calling them from the living room, “Guys?”

Niall opened the door to the kitchen and was the first to enter the living room, Liam and Zayn behind him.

“So… what’s up?” Liam asked.

“We’re going home.” Louis asked.

“So you’re going back to Louis’?” Zayn asked Harry and the boy nodded. “Right, thank God, I have my flat again.”

“Hey! You love me.” Harry teased him.

“Yeah, yeah, but Louis needs you more than I do, go back to him.” Zayn said and Harry rolled his eyes while Louis kind of blushed.

“So everything’s good then?” Liam asked.

“Yeah… I mean, we have a lot to talk about and to figure out but I think we’ll be alright.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Now, off you go then!”

“Alright,” Harry said while he walked towards the door, “I’ll come over tomorrow to grab my things that are at yours, Zayn.”

“Okay, just text me or call before, don’t wake me up.”

“I know.” He laughed and exited the door with Louis behind him, who waved goodbye at the boys.

“So I should be going too.” Zayn told the other two boys, not because he had plans, but he was never really comfortable with being a third wheel. So he said goodbye to Liam and Niall and then left too.

“I’m so relieved the things between Louis and Harry are not awkward anymore.” Liam said while he grabbed all the empty bottled of beer from the coffee table and took them to the kitchen.

“Yeah, they’ll probably have lots to talk but I think they’ll get to it this time.” Niall commented while carrying the plates to the kitchen too and placing them on the sink.

“I think I’m just going to go lay in bed and watch some TV or something, wanna join me?” Liam said.

“I’ll just wash the dishes because I know you won’t do it tomorrow, so let me do it now and I’ll join you, yeah?”

“We so need to get a dishwasher,” Liam said and rolled his eyes, “alright then.” He said and exited the kitchen and went to the bedroom.

Niall went to the sink to wash the few plates in there and get rid of the beer bottles and was finished about ten minutes later, so he headed to the room, where he found Liam already under the blankets and watching something on the TV very intently.

The blond stripped out of his clothes, leaving only his boxers on and got inside the bed, letting out a happy sigh when his back hit the mattress.

For at least ten minutes, Niall just stayed there, lying in bed looking at Liam who was very concentrated on whatever the man on the program was talking about. It didn’t bother him, he was always up for admiring his gorgeous boyfriend and apparently Liam didn’t even notice.

By the time Liam finished watching his program, he could feel Niall’s eyes on his face. “You’re going to burn a whole through my head if you keep staring at me.” He chuckled.

Niall blushed and moved his eyes away from his face quickly, “sorry.” He muttered.

Liam then turned his body fully so he was facing Niall and placed a kiss on his cheek, making the blond smile. “What were you watching anyways?”

“Just a segment of a program, they were talking about respiratory diseases and stuff.” The older boy said with a shrug.

“That sounds so boring,” Niall said with a weird face, kind of scrunching up his nose, that made Liam laugh.

“Hey! I like those things, they are interesting.”

“Alright, whatever you say, Li.” Niall rolled his eyes.

“Shush you,” Liam said and wrapped an arm around Niall’s shoulders, “so why don’t you tell me about this job you’re obviously going to get?”

Niall rolled his eyes again, “I don’t know about that yet, but I hope, yes. Uhm, it’s at a restaurant but not like, being the chef, just as an assistant there in the kitchen, but hey, it’s something, right?”

“Of course it is! That is so great, Ni, you’re going to learn a lot, you’ll see. That’s what you have to think, like, every new step we make in life serves as an experience, I mean, look at me, I’m studying to be a doctor but I work at an office, but still, it’s something.”

“Li, you just went so deep there I just couldn’t see you anymore for a second.” Niall laughed.

“Oh, shut up.” Liam said laughing and punched him playfully. “But seriously, you’ll get this job, I have a feeling about it.”

“I hope you’re right, Li, I hope you’re right.” He sighed. “I was serious about what I said earlier, by the way.”

“What?”

“That if I get the job, or whatever job, I’m going to spoil you, I’ll buy you tickets to those matches you want to go so bad, and I’ll buy you books about that boring medical stuff but that you really like, and I’ll buy you lots of fast food because you like it, and chocolates and I’ll take you out on dates and all those things you’ve been doing for me all this time.”

Liam couldn’t help but smile at him, “that is my job!”

“It is mine too, you see, a relationship is a two ways street, you do things for me, I do things for you too.” Niall smiled at him.

“Alright, seems fair enough.” Liam commented, “but I don’t want you to think you have to do this for me because you owe me something, yeah? You don’t owe me anything, I’m more than happy to spoil you to make you happy.”

“I know you are, but I kind of feel like I owe  you, but apart from that I just want to make you feel that way too.”

“You already do by existing and being mine, I swear.” Liam said and placed a kiss on the blond’s forehead.

“Cheesy as fuck.” Niall said with a small laugh.

“That’s a reason why you love me.” Liam teased him.

“Actually, it is.” Niall laughed.

“Great, cause you’re not getting rid of my cheesiness any time soon.”

“I wasn’t counting on that, believe me.”

“Good. Now how about sleeping?”

“How about kissing and then sleeping?”

“Sounds good to me.” Liam answered with a shrug before closing the gap between their lips once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I decided to finish this story, but it's probably going to take me quite some time. now I need you guy to answer this for me, cause I had an idea in mind for the end but hey smutsmutsmut so I need you to tell me how you feel about it or if you want me just to write some smut and skip some other parts or to write them all. and if you want just some, you should tell me what would you like to read, liam or niall topping then we can all be happy about it. so, I guess that's all, if you have any comments or feedback about this story, let me know, thank you all for reading this! x


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "...you’re like… a light in my life, you know? I can’t thank you enough for that, Liam, for being a new chance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idek where this chapter came from, I am sorry but hey, an update!  
> also, there are some things I thought I should explain so they are at the end of the chapter!

It was Friday and Niall was just out from his job interview, and if you asked him, he thought he did pretty good for his first interview. Now he just had to wait for about a week and see if they’ll call him and tell him if he got the job. He really, really hopes he gets it.

The restaurant wasn’t very far away from his and Liam’s flat, so he decided to walk. He spent most of his walk thinking about how this past year was a massive change in his life and all thanks to someone that not even a year ago, was a stranger, someone he didn’t knew. He made a mental note to thank God (if there is one) or whatever major force for kind people like his Liam.

It wasn’t until he was almost home that he turned to look at that spot that used to be his little place in the world when he still lived on the streets. He stared at it for a while, flashes of memories of what his life used to be back then rushing through his head. He didn’t even notice he moved from where he was standing until he found himself standing right in that place. People walking past him on the streets must have thought he was crazy, I mean, he was standing in the middle of the street looking at the floor and a wall.

He moved and sat there, his back against the wall, crossed legged and stared ahead, the building where he lives now there. Oh, how everything changed and he didn’t even think about it, he was letting it sink in now, almost a year later. He didn’t know if he was too preoccupied with other things or the fact that he just wanted to _forget_ about all that happened in the past that he, tried at least, not to think about it all, and whenever something popped up in his mind, he’ll just try and change the topic in his head quickly. He was good at avoiding stuff, huh.

He didn’t know how much time he spent sitting in there until a very confused Liam coming home from work, standing in front of him.

“Ni?” Liam asked him, confusion written all over his face.

The blond lifted his head to look at him and it felt exactly the same way as the first times the talked to each other, it made him feel weird inside. “Hi, Li.” He said quietly.

“What are you doing sitting here?”

“Just… remembering stuff. Care to join me?”

Liam’s brows furrowed in confusion but still sat next to Niall on the floor. “What are we exactly looking at?”

“Nothing. We’re just seeing things from another point of view.”

Liam looked at him in confusion, what the fuck was going on- OH. So Niall finally caught up with what happened these past months. Liam then couldn’t help but smile. It was good, right? That Niall could see how everything changed for better.

“What do you see?” the blonde asked him.

“I’m not sure of what I should be seeing?” he said but sounded as a question. “What do you see?”

“I see a lot of things.” Niall told him, still staring straight ahead, “looking at your building-“

“Our building, we both live there, remember?” Liam cut him off.

“Our building, yes, our. Uhm, I see a home, and a chance, a opportunity, you know? I see a boy that changed a lot in almost a year, that his life gave a complete turn, and love, lots of love.”

Liam smiled at him, “well, all that is true, you know.”

“Yeah, it’s just… I’m just catching up now. It’s… weird.” He said looking down, “I used to belong here, this used to be my home, I used to have no control over my life, what I could do and what I couldn’t, like, my life was just whatever fate offered me and I didn’t even get to choose cause I didn’t have any other choices and now just… what the fuck, now I have plenty and Liam, wow, I am somebody, I am my own person, I actually have a _chance_ to be someone in life.”

To say Liam was confused about what was happening was an understatement, but he was still able to understand what the blonde was going through at the moment. He was actually waiting for this to happen, he knew one day Niall was going to just realized everything that has happened and just be shocked, but he expected it to be earlier and he completely forgot about this, he thought that this wasn’t going to happen now or that maybe it did happen sometime and he didn’t realize (which he wished it didn’t cause then he was a horrible boyfriend.)

“You were meant to be someone in life, Niall, we all are.”

“Yeah, just- I didn’t believe it until now, you know?”

“You’re just catching up, everything’s fine.” Liam told him and wrapped an arm around the blonde’s shoulders. “How about we go home now?” he asked and Niall nodded.

As they got up from the floor, Liam hold Niall’s hand so tight he could actually have broken his fingers, but Niall didn’t care, he was okay, he felt okay with Liam with him. And maybe he was still a little too wrapped up in his thoughts.

They didn’t speak for the two minutes that took them to get to the flat, until they were inside and Liam had closed the door behind them.

“I’m just going to bed, take a nap or something.” The blond said.

“You sure you don’t want something to eat?”

“No, thanks.”

“Alright, I’ll go grab some tea and go to bed too. You want some tea?”

“No, Li, I’m fine.” Niall told him with a nod and turn to walk towards the room.

Liam just stood there and watched him, saw how Niall stopped mid corridor in front of what now, was a spare room, he saw a little smile tugging the blonde’s lips before he resumed his walk into their room, closing the door behind him.

Well this was awkward, Niall was acting like he was going through some kind of… throwback? Regression? Which is even the word for it? Didn’t really matter because Liam was planning on staying by his side the whole time it took Niall to go back to his normal self.

The kettle took him out of his thoughts by signaling the water was ready for tea, so he took a mug and prepared some before heading to his room.

When Liam got to his room, Niall was lying in bed staring at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression. He placed his cup of tea in the nightstand and got rid of his clothes before sitting on the bed, his back against the headboard and covering his lower half with the blanket. “What’s on your mind, Ni?” he asked and the blond suddenly turned to look at him.

“I was actually recalling the first time I was here. Then when I left and you went out and found me. Then how you took care of me and convinced me of studying. The time I met your family. How your friends are now my friends. I don’t know, all that stuff. It’s pretty amazing that a year ago we didn’t even know each other and now we’re together, we sleep on the same bed, we share a life and-“ he was cut off by Ash barking loudly on the other side of the door. Ash was still not that big to open door himself.

Liam chuckled, “should I let him in?”

“Sure.” Niall said with a small laugh and Liam got up from his spot on the bed to open the door and then a very happy Ash came running into the room and jumped on the bed and licked Niall’s face, making him chuckle.

Liam laughed as he closed the door and walked towards the bed again, “alright, alright, Ash, I love you but you’re on my side of the bed and that is my boyfriend there, so off you go.” Liam told the puppy while laughing and put him off the bed and then returning to his previous position before standing up.

Apparently Ash wasn’t having any of it because in no time he was on the bed again but this time making an effort no to fall as he was standing on Niall’s legs. The dog looked at the blond and then he tilted his head to the side, as if even he knew something was wrong.

“I know, I know,” Liam told Ash and petted him between the ears, “our boy is a bit nostalgic today, so let’s give him some space, yeah?”

“I think I’d rather cuddle.” Niall said quietly.

“Or we can cuddle him, can’t we?” Liam said, still talking to the dog. “Come on, off you go, Ash.” He finally said, putting the dog off the bed again and moving so he was lying on his side on the bed but Niall was still sitting. “Uhm… I can’t cuddle you if you are not lying here with me?” he told the blond.

“Oh, yeah, right. Sorry.” Niall told him and laid on the bed, his back pressing against Liam’s chest while the older boy’s arm wrapped his waist.

The next minutes, or hour, or it could possibly be a day as none of them was watching the clock, was spent in silence. Niall’s breathe even, but Liam knew, he didn’t know how but he just knew, the blond wasn’t asleep. It was time someone cleared this up.

“Ni?” he asked softly, “you awake?”

“Mhm” came as a muffled sound from the other boy.

“Are you okay?” he asked then tentatively, he didn’t want to disturb him more, didn’t want him to pressure him into talking if he didn’t want to so he could have a breakdown but he needed to know what was going on inside his head.

Niall then shifted on the bed and turned around, his blue eyes meeting Liam’s brown ones. “I’m fine,” He said softly, “just a lot in my head.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“I- okay, I’ll tell you, just… just let me take it all out, yeah?”

“Alright, I’m listening.” Liam said and placed a kiss on the blonde’s forehead.

“So basically, I love you.” Niall said and a small smile tugged the side of his lips, and Liam smiled at him but didn’t say anything, “Remember how I was telling you before about everything we went through this almost past year?” he asked and the older boy nodded, “well… I was just remembering what I thought back when it all started. I told you about how I didn’t get any chances back then and then you happened, right?” he kept talking, his voice still soft, “and when I first saw you I was like… this is a very amazing boy, gentle and caring, remember how you used to buy me food and hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls?” he asked and another smile appeared on his face, Liam mirroring it, “and then, when you took me to the hospital, and you offered me to come here when you could’ve just let me die in there and even though I told you to go back to your life and I’ll just keep living the same way, you told me not to, that you would take care of me, not like, literally, but you said it in a way as if you wanted me in your life and I just couldn’t believe that, I’m sorry but it was just… impossible at the time. And I mean, maybe you didn’t mean it but that’s what I understood so sorry if you didn’t mean that and now you’re stuck here with me,” he said this time with a chuckle and Liam let out a little laugh and rubbed his nose against Niall’s one, and it was good, to see his blond smiling or laughing at least for a second again, “but okay, back to what I wanted to say, when you offered me to come here, I was hesitant at first, but at that time you were a choice, only by just appearing in my life, Liam, you offered me a new choice, I could go back and live on the streets again or come here with you, and then I didn’t even have to think about it, I just accepted you when I didn’t even know you, and let me tell you, best decision I’d ever made, ‘cause you proved to me that good people are still going around and you’re like… a light in my life, you know? I can’t thank you enough for that, Liam, for being a new chance.”

“Those were probably the most amazing words you’ve ever said to me.” Liam said then, his voice soft too, like if they raised their voices some kind of magic spell would break, “And if you ask me why I did all those things… then I don’t think I have an answer. I don’t know why I did the things I did. Remember I told you it was like love at first sight when I saw you, right?” he asked and Niall nodded, “Well, then the first time we talked, I just knew it was you. I _knew_. You see, I see love like a flame, like, everyone has this little flame inside that grows bigger when you meet the right person, but you, Niall? You just came in and set it all on fire, it was like I had been struck by some sort of realization, it was mindblowing at the time.”

Niall didn’t realize a tear was running down his face until Liam kissed it away, and then he moved his face to kiss him, and it was still there, he, they had completely forgot about it, being so used to spend time with each other, they let their minds and bodies forget about it. That feeling they had when they kissed for the first time, when they held hands for the first time, that tingly sensation that ran through their bodies, it was still there, how could they forget about something so essential in a relationship?

The kiss was one of those long ones, but not one of those ‘pre-sex’ kind of kisses, it was just filled with emotion, rough feelings all over, it was just them, just… _them_.

“I just want you to be happy, _I_ want to make you happy.” Liam said once they had pulled away, even though their faces were still inches apart.

“I wish the same, Li, I want nothing else for you but to be happy. Hopefully, with me by your side and holding your hand.”

“Sap. Of course, how else would it be?” Liam said and planted a little kiss on his lips again.

Niall smiled then and buried his face on Liam’s neck, letting out a yawn.

“Let’s have some sleep, yeah love?”

Niall nodded against the older boy’s skin before tightening his arms around Liam’s body, “love you” he murmured against Liam’s neck.

“And I love you, Niall.” Liam answered, his voice sounded muffled against the blond’s hair.

*

Liam woke up around five thirty in the afternoon because of his phone vibrating next to him on his bedside table. He tried to move but remembered Niall was still sleeping, so carefully, he disentangled himself from his body and grabbed his phone before exiting the room. He went to pick up his phone but realized it wasn’t vibrating anymore. “ _1 missed call: Louis_ ”

Didn’t Louis have classes on Fridays? Oh well. He just pressed the call button and waited for his friend to pick up.

“Hello!” Louis voice came from the other side of the line.

“Someone’s happy today.” Liam told him.

“Are you okay? You sound weird.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine, just woke up.” He told him with his still groggy voice.

“Oh. Well, just wanted to tell you I’m on my way to your flat. Harry was out looking for a job so I don’t feel like being bored.”

“I, uhm…” Liam said and opened the door to his room a little to see Niall’s still sleeping figure on the bed, “okay, you can stop by.”

“You sure you’re alright?”

Liam let out a sigh, “I’ll tell you when you’re here.”

“Right, I’ll be there in a few, see you.”

When the line went dead, he stepped inside his room again and looked for a pair of sweatpants and a shirt before going to the kitchen to make some coffee.

He was deep in thought about everything that has happened today when the bell rang. He opened the door to a very cheerful Louis.

“What’s gotten into you?” Liam asked him, “you look like a kid on Christmas.” He let out a small chuckle.

“Don’t know, just happy today, I guess.” The older boy shrugged.

“How’s everything with Harry?”

“Good… good,” Louis said, his expression changing, “I wanted to ask you something about, uhm…”

“About what?” Liam asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Nothing, just… I’ll ask you some other time. You look like you need to talk though.”

“Yeah… I don’t really know.”

“Something happened between you and Niall?”

“No… not really between us, him. Well, kind of.”

“What happened to him?” Louis said while he sat on a chair in the kitchen and Liam put two coffees on the table for them.

“Don’t really know, when I came home from work I found him on the street, like, sitting on floor, you know in what used to be his spot where he lived out there?” Louis nodded, “and I don’t know, he had kind of an emotional breakdown, I think. Like he’s catching up with everything that had happened this past year.”

“I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. It’s good, he’d have to go through that sooner or later.”

“I know, it’s just… he looks sad and he was telling me about how he thought he didn’t have any chances until he met me and I don’t know, it made me sad, he looks so fragile right now.”

“Well, I think-“ Louis started but was cut off by a really sleepy Niall entering the kitchen, “oh, hello Niall.” He smiled at him.

“Oh. Hey, Lou.” The blond said and offered a small smile to him.

“How you doing?”

“I’ve been better.” Niall said with a shrug.

“You hungry?” Liam asked his boyfriend.

Niall nodded, “not a lot though, I’ll just grab some cereal or something.”

“I’ll hand it to you, just sit.” Liam told him and Niall nodded and sit on a chair next to Louis, who looked at him with a little smile and ran his hand through Niall’s back in comfort. The blond returned the smile, or at least tried to, and knew that Louis knew. Either he was very perceptive, which he was (even though it wasn’t hard to figure out that he was having a bad day), or Liam has told him about it. He thought it was the latter.

Liam then handed him a bowl full of cereals and milk and a spoon and Niall started eating.

“So, your birthday’s near, Liam, what are we doing?” Louis asked excited and just for the sake of not being in that awkward silence.

“Uhm… don’t know yet, I was thinking I could go see my family or something.”

“But what about us?!” Louis exclaimed, faking a hurt face, making Niall smile while chewing on his cereal.

“Don’t know, you are the one who usually plan these things, you tell me.” Liam told Louis while laughing.

“Alright, I’ll organize a party or something.”

“No, Lou, no parties, you know I’m not that much into parties.”

“Party pooper.” Louis said under his breath and Liam laughed. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” He added, “you’re going to get your private party here anyways, aren’t you?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows and looking between him and Niall, making Liam roll his eyes and the blonde blush.

Niall then finished his bowl of cereal and stood up to place it on the sink and then immediately moved towards Liam and hid his face on his neck, Liam’s arms automatically wrapping around his waist.

Louis smiled sweetly at them, he knew what it felt like. Or he’d like to think he knew. Or if he didn’t then he’d like to know. Things between him and Harry were going slow and smooth but good, none of them was pressing the other so they could be comfortable. He’d like to think one day they’ll be like Liam and Niall, if they ever got to be a real couple.

“I’ll leave you two guys to… uhm, yeah, that.” Louis said with a chuckle as he stood up from where he was sitting.

Liam smiled at him with a short nod, a silent ‘thanks Lou’ written on his face and Louis nodded before going to the front door of the flat and left.

“You alright?” Liam asked the blond.

“Yeah, feel better, I think I just needed to talk about it. Thanks, Li.” He smiled at him and placed a kiss on the older boy’s cheek.

“You don’t have to thank me, I’m always here for you.” He told him, squeezing the other boy in his arms. “What do you want to do? Do you want to go out or you want to stay here?”

“I think I’d rather stay here, can we watch a movie or something? Just to take my mind off things.”

“Sure, let’s go pick one then.”

*

They were in bed, watching the movie, probably half way into the movie, but Niall wouldn’t know because he wasn’t really paying attention to whatever was happening on the screen, his attention was focused on Liam.

“Can I fuck you?” he said suddenly.

“W- what?” Liam asked confused and turned his head to look at Niall.

“Sorry.” The blond blurted out and looked down.

“No! No, I mean, you can but, uhm, where did that came from?”

“Don’t know,” he shrugged, “it makes me feel like I’m in control over something in my life, I guess.”

Liam then grabbed the remote and pressed the pause button and the movie stopped playing. “You’re in control over everything you do in your life, Niall, what are you talking about?”

“Yeah, I mean, yeah, but not right now,” the blonde said, “like, I don’t want to feel the way I’m feeling but I can’t help it and I don’t like that.”

“It’ll be just for a moment, Ni, I promise,” Liam said and hugged him, “you’ll be your cheerful self soon.” He smiled at him. “Don’t beat yourself over it, okay? You’re doing amazing in your life, you’re amazing.”

Niall smiled at him, Liam was really the best thing he had in life. “Thanks, Li.” He said and moved to hug him again but this time tighter.

“No need to thank me.” Liam said while running his hand up and down Niall’s back. “Still want to fuck me?” he asked and Niall shook his head no. “Alright. You know I wouldn’t have said no anyways.”

Niall chuckled a little, “I know. But I’m fine.”

“I know. We’re fine.”

*

Saturday was pretty much the same, they spent the day at their flat, but Niall was feeling better, he even laughed more and cooked a proper meal for the two of them. Liam had asked him how his interview had gone the previous day and he told him it was good, that he had felt really comfortable there and that people (or at least the ones he met) were pretty cool, and so was the head chef in the kitchen. He really, really hoped he’d get the job, he needed it.

By Sunday, Niall was again his happy self, he woke up Liam with breakfast in bed and they had kissed and when Liam asked him how he felt, he told him he was good, that he was back and then thanked him for being so patient with him even thought it was only two days. Liam must have had bored a lot, but he loved Niall and after a week of work, a weekend inside wasn’t bad after all.

It was almost lunch time while he was making some salad and Liam was having a shower, when his phone started ringing and he felt nervousness ran through his body at the caller ID.

“Hello?... yes, yes, I remember you… I’m good, thank you… oh, I understand… wait- really? that’s fantastic!... yes, yes, I’ll be there… thank you so much!” he hung up his phone with a smile on his face.

“Who was that?” Liam asked as he was just out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel.

“That was from the restaurant.”

“And what did they say?” asked Liam, anxiety in his voice.

“I got the job!” Niall almost yelled and ran towards Liam and hugged him tight.

“See? I told you! I’m so proud of you, Ni.” He told the blond and pulled apart to look at him in the eye.

Niall just took Liam’s face in his hands and kissed him hard. He just couldn’t contain his excitement.

After some more kissing as a celebration, they had lunch on the kitchen and Liam just couldn’t stop staring at Niall who couldn’t stop smiling, it was actually the cutest thing Liam had ever seen.

“So when are you starting?” Liam asked when they were almost finished with their food.

“Uhm,” Niall said while swallowing, “not this week, the other one, at the same time my classes start too.”

“Oh, I completely forgot about that! Do we need to go and buy something?”

Niall laughed, “No, Li, we don’t need to buy anything, I’ll have everything I’m going to need there. Also, thanks for paying for my first month of classes, I’ll start paying from now on, now that I have a job.” Niall said with a smile.

Liam wanted to say that it was nothing, that he would keep paying if it was necessary but he decided against it when he saw Niall so happy about having his own money and being able to deal with his own expenses.

“They told me I could go and watch around the place to see how everything works during the week,” Niall spoke, “so I’ll probably be there sometime this week, to know the chef and see how he works and stuff.”

“That’s great! You’ll be his assistant in the kitchen, right?”

“Yeah,” Niall said with an excited smile, “can’t wait, I’m so excited about this.”

“I’m happy for you, babe.” Liam said and took Niall’s hand in his and placed a kiss on this knuckles.

Just as they were done eating and Niall was placing their plates on the sink, the bell rang, the boys looked at each other with confused faces.

Liam then stood up and went to open the door to find Zayn standing with an… embarrassed? Louis. He should’ve know, who else would it be?

“Hello?” Liam asked confused just as Zayn pushed the door open to enter the flat with Louis.

Niall then entered the living room to see a very confused Liam closing the door, “oh, what’s up guys?” he asked.

“You need to have the talk with Louis.”

“W- what?” Liam asked confused. What the fuck?

“You need to have the talk with Louis.” Zayn repeated.

“Mate, you’re making it sound like we’re his parents about to give him a talk about having sex for the first time.” Niall told him with a laugh.

“Good, ‘cause that’s exactly what you’re going to do.”

Liam and Niall’s eyes went wide and saw a very embarrassed Louis sitting on their couch.

“Wait- what?” Liam asked, he was not getting what was going on.

Zayn sighed, “I don’t know, man, I just don’t know how to deal with Louis dating a guy and I’m not the right person to give him advice about it when he’s about to have sex with one.”

Niall burst out laughing, “so I get everything between you and Harry is going good?” he asked Louis with an arched eyebrow.

“I, uhm- yeah, but what Zayn’s telling you it’s- it’s not like that.”

“What do you mean it’s not like that?” Zayn asked, and turned to him, “hey Lou,” he said then, his voice softer, “there’s nothing wrong about it, I’m just not the right person to talk about the topic, okay? I’m not disgusted or anything.”

“I know.” Louis said with a small sigh.

“Now,” Zayn said to Liam and Niall, “I’m going to leave you with this young man and I’ll leave.” He said and got up and walked to the door, “Have fun!” and then he was out of the room.

“So that was… awkward.” Liam stated.

“I know, sorry, I’ll just go home and-“ Louis said standing up but was cut by Niall grabbing his shoulders and pushed him until he was sitting again.

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere, young man.” He told him faking a parental voice.

Louis chuckled, “you really just sound like a parent.”

Niall laughed, “I know, I’m good at it, aren’t I?” he said and sat on the single sofa in front of Louis, Liam sitting on the armrest. “So, what’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on, Zayn’s just being overdramatic!”

Niall just rolled his eyes and Liam talked, “how’s everything going with Harry?”

“Good, we had a long talk after being here, there was some yelling and stuff but we’re okay now.” He shrugged.

“Okay, I’m happy for you.” Liam said.

“Okay but what was Zayn talking about then?” Niall asked, “you must have told or asked him something.” He said then, “Don’t lie to us, Louis.” He said again in that parental voice making Liam laugh.

Louis laughed with them, “I didn’t say anything! I just implied that someday is going to happen, right? Well, I guess it is,” he said blushing, “and he just freaked out and brought me here.”

“Oh.” Niall said blinking, “well if you want to ask us something about it then I guess you can?”

“Yeah, but we’re not going to tell you about our sex life though.” Liam added.

“Not that I would like to know.” Louis said faking a disgusted face, “I just- I’ll know, right? If I want to, I mean.”

“What do you mean ‘you’ll know’? Of course you will, mate, if you’re horny then you’re horny.” Niall chuckled.

“No!” Louis chuckled too, “I mean, I guess I can go and have sex with him if I’m horny and he just wants to, but that’s not- that’s not the same as having a proper first time, isn’t it?”

“Well…” Liam started, “I guess that depends on how you want your first time to be,” he told his friend, “I mean, if you want it to be just for fun, or just for the sake of getting off or if you want it to be special and romantic. But I mean, if you want to go home now and have a shag and he says yes then no one’s stopping you.” He finished with a shrug.

“That would be so unfair though,” Niall commented and both boys looked at him confused and he continued talking, “you made me wait like five months to have proper sex, Liam.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s because I knew how I wanted our first time to be.”

“Do I not have a say in this?” Niall asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, not anymore ‘cause you can’t change the past,” Liam chuckled, “plus, you loved it.”

“Shut up.” Niall said blushing and hit the brown haired boy in the arm playfully.

Louis looked at them with a smile in his face and then laughed, “it’s funny to see you arguing about that.”

“Yeah but at that moment it wasn’t funny at all.” Niall said faking an upset face.

“Shut up, Ni.” Liam said with a chuckle.

“You know what’s actually funny? That you’re so open about this, I thought Liam would be like ‘LOUIS I CAN’T TALK ABOUT THAT WITH YOU, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!’” he said imitating Liam’s voice.

“Well it’s not like we’re _actually_ telling you what we do in bed, so.”

“Can you tell me?” Louis said smiling and bouncing on his seat.

“No!” both boys said at the same time.

“Okay, okay. Just- ugh, this is embarrassing.”

“What?”

“I was just- uhm… how do you- ugh, how do you know who like… tops and yeah… that stuff?” he asked, voice soft and cheeks blushed.

“I, uhm-“ Liam started.

“We kind of discovered that after our first time.” Niall chuckled.

“After?” Louis asked confused, “what do you mean after? Like, one of you topped and then decided you didn’t like it so you can do it the other way?”

“No, no. I mean-“ Liam started again but was cut by Niall again.

“We just tried both and then decided, more like, it just slipped.” Niall laughed at the memory.

“Oh.” Louis said.

“Niall, you’re just so blunt, can’t you be a little more… less blunt?”

“Oh, come on, it’s not like we’re talking to any of our parents, Liam.”

Liam just rolled his eyes.

“Alright, I think I’ll just… I have quite some things to think about.” Louis said and stood up and Liam’s phone started ringing.

“Dani!” Liam answered the phone and went into the kitchen to talk and Niall looked at him with a frown on his face.

“Don’t worry about her, Niall, they’re just friends.” Louis told him and put a hand on the blonde’s shoulder.

“I know.” Niall sighed.

“He loves you.”

“I know,” he said again, “I just can’t help but think she’s a lot better for him than I am. She’s pretty and talented and good and she’s a _girl_ , she can give him a lot of things that I can’t and-“

“Don’t.” Louis said and put a finger on Niall’s lips, “don’t think like that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Talk to him about it.”

“Are you crazy? No!”

“No, what?” Liam asked entering the room again.

“Are you already done talking?” Louis asked.

“Yeah, it was a quick chat, she was in the middle of something, just wanted to know how me and Niall were doing.” He shrugged.

“See?” Louis said looking at Niall.

“See, what?” Liam asked confused.

“I think you need to talk about Danielle with Niall.” Louis said to Liam and the blonde glared at him, “bye!” he then added and left the flat.

“What does he mean we need to talk about Danielle?” Liam asked Niall, confusion showing in his face.

“Nothing, Liam, everything’s fine.” Niall said and stood up to go to their room.

“No, hey,” Liam said and grabbed him by the arm, “it’s not fine, what is it?” he asked.

“Nothing, Liam, really, just- forget about it, yeah?”

“No, Niall. Tell me.”

Niall stood there looking at him for a minute before speaking, his voice soft as a whisper, “I’m jealous of her.” He said and then looked down at the floor.

“Jealous?” Liam asked confused but Niall just stood there looking down, “why?”

Niall just shrugged.

Liam took a sit back in the sofa and dragged Niall with him, sitting him in his lap, “Niall look at me.” He told him and the blond did, “there is no reason for you to be jealous about her, I love you, okay? Just you.”

“I know,” he whispered, “it’s not that.”

Liam frowned in confusion, “then what is it?”

“I don’t know, just- you two have history and she’s a lot better for you than I am.”

“Why do you think that?”

“’Cause… ‘cause she’s pretty and you two get along well and- and she’s a girl, Liam, a _girl_ , she can give you things that I’ll never be able to.”

“Like what? There’s nothing she can give me that you can’t, Ni.”

“Yes, you’re just not thinking about it yet. One day you’ll want a family, Liam, and I can’t give you that.”

“Oh, Ni.” The older boy said and hugged the blonde tight, “don’t think about it, we’ll find a way to have a family together, I wouldn’t even want one if it’s not with you.”

“Cheesy.” Niall said with a chuckle.

“Love you. Don’t feel bad, yeah?”

“Thanks, Li, for putting up with my shit on a daily basis.”

“Hey, don’t say that.”

“Sorry.” Niall said and placed a kiss on Liam’s cheek, “now that it’s all said, can we just move on with our lives?”

“Of course.” He said with a smile and kissed the blond sweetly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so first of all, again, sorry about this chapter I just wanted something sad and then awkward and this chapter came out?  
> second, I meant to update a lot earlier but I'm dealing with some health problems and I can't really move a lot and this is the first time I'm using my computer since I last updated so I thought I should update before having to catch up with everything I couldn't do this week in real life. This chapter was already written (and so is the next one) but please bare with me while I deal with my body and health, and I know I have prompts to write and things to keep writing but yeah, I am sorry I made you wait.  
> There are probably going to be three more chapters or so and then it's over (I'm sad, I know).  
> Thank you al so, so much for reading and sticking with me, and I'm sorry about the wait!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “why are you surprised? Is there something I should know that you haven’t been telling me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update, but I'm kind of in the middle of a struggle with this story, but there you go!

“You ready to go, babe?”

“I’ll be ready in a second, but you can go, I’ll catch the bus or something.”

“Are you crazy? And miss your excited face on your first day of classes? No way.” Liam chuckled.

“I love you.” Niall said and kissed him softly, “I’m ready.” He smiled.

“Okay there, here we go!”

They were inside Liam’s car in no time, Niall bouncing all the ride right next to Liam who drove. The past days were gone in the blink of an eye and it was now time for Niall to start culinary school as well as his job. He couldn’t be more excited, this is what he had been waiting for quite some time now. He knew the career he chose was exactly the one for him so he had nothing to worry about. As to the job… well, he’ll have to get used to it but he was a very eager person and he needed this job so he knew he’ll fit in quickly.

Luckily for the both of them, Niall’s school was in the same direction as Liam’s uni and work (as they were both just a few blocks from each other), so Liam didn’t have to worry about being late.

By the time Liam had parked right in front of the blonde’s school, Niall was ready to open the door and run towards the entrance of the place, but before doing that, he turned his face to the side and placed a kiss on Liam’s lips and then smiled.

“So I guess I’ll see you back at home at night?” Liam said.

“’Course. Love you!” he said as he opened the door and got out of the car. Liam chuckled as he saw how Niall almost tripped over something on the street because of excitement. He was so, so proud of Niall.

After that, he remembered that, oh, routine starts again, so he started driving towards his destination. He didn’t miss this one bit.

*

Niall was in complete awe at the way the kitchen looked, all the cutlery and the cooking utensils. He just wanted to jump around everywhere and start making food and stuff. But he knew the first day always was about presentation and how the classes were going to be and teachers and exams and marks and rules and all that boring stuff.

He wasn’t wrong, he hadn’t touched one thing in the kitchen that day but he knew he will the next day, when his classes were really starting.

There were quite a lot of people in his classes, a mix of girls and boys and most of them seemed very friendly, he liked that, it gave the place a good atmosphere.

By noon, when he was out of there, he was going straight to work. He sent Liam a quick text, telling him about his day:

_‘first day boring as hell, can’t wait for tomorrow. heading to work now. love ya! x ’_

And it wasn’t until he got to the bus stop when he got an answer:

_‘work’s boring as hell too. have a great first day at work! see you at night! x’_

Niall smiled and waited not very long for the bus to come. Luckily the ride from school to his work wasn’t very long as they weren’t that far away, but he wasn’t sure how much it’ll take him to walk that distance, so he chose to take the bus.

By the time he entered the restaurant, and this needs to be said, it was not one of those “normal” restaurants, it’s one of those places for people with quite some money, very neat and kind of a rich aspect, with a great reputation. He was still quite unsure of how he landed a job in there.

He directed himself immediately to the kitchen, where he was received by the head chef, who he met the last week when he went to look around his work place. It was a middle aged man, very kind and funny and also was very, very good at what he did. He was very happy to work with someone with such skills and was eager to learn everything he could from him.

Soon, he was putting on his uniform and ready to work in the kitchen. As it was his first day, the rest of the people in there took it easy on him, asking him to chop or cut some things, boil some pasta or an specific food but wasn’t yet asking him to do lots of stuff. Niall wanted to tell them, that he was ready, that he wanted to feel that pressure of having to do everything quickly and had it all perfect but he shut his mouth and kept doing what he was told to.

As his job was completely on the kitchen, he didn’t really get the chance to interact with the rest of the people working there, but he was taken aback with what happened while he was chopping some onions, almost cutting off one of his fingers.

“The man on table nine says he wants his steak not too dry but not too juicy either. And please don’t put too much carrots on his salad.” A girly voice came into the kitchen and Niall turned to look at the girl.

_‘No.’_ was his immediate thought. _‘Nonono, this can’t be happening to me.’_

The girl looked at him just as he turned around and frowned, he knew she knew who he was, he was just expecting her not to remember him. And then her eyes went wide and eyed him from head to toe.

“Niall?” she asked.

“Yeah…” he mumbled.

“What a surprise! It’s been so long since the last time I saw you!” she exclaimed.

Niall just faked a smile and nodded at her and turned around again to keep working on whatever he was doing. Shit, why was this happening to him?

The rest of the day was spent by doing some sauces and chopping more vegetables and the environment that surrounded him was great. If it wasn’t for that unfortunate person working on there too, who was apparently surprised to see him and was prowling around the kitchen whenever she had a chance. And he was trying his best to look like he was very busy with what he was doing and acting like he hadn’t saw her even though he did.

By the time he was ready to go home, he said goodbye to everyone in the kitchen and thanked them for making him feel comfortable and welcomed there before going home. He needed Liam.

*

Liam’s new first day of uni was tiring as hell. He had already a bunch of stuff to read and to work with and he didn’t even had all his classes that day. Well, this was going to be an interesting semester.

To get home and eat some food and be with Niall was all he wanted while driving along the streets of London. He was thankful that there wasn’t too much traffic that day.

By around half an hour later, Liam was entering the flat, Niall almost tackling him, making him chuckle.

“Missed me?” he asked as he pulled away from the blonde’s embrace.

Niall then nodded and went for a kiss. But it wasn’t a happy, sweet kiss, it was more like… rough, like something was wrong and Niall was insecure about something.

Liam pulled away quickly and eyed the blonde. “Something’s off.”

“Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine.” Niall told him.

“No, you’re not. You were bouncing around all morning and you sounded happy when you texted me today, now you look like a kicked puppy. What is it?”

Niall let out a sigh and went to sit on the sofa, or more like, let his body fell very ungraciously on it. Liam sitting next to him.

“Well?”

“Some… unfortunate people turned back into my life today.” Niall mumbled.

Liam then frowned, unfortunate people? What did that even mean? Niall and Liam knew all the same people and he couldn’t remember someone who he had a bad relationship with.

“What do you mean?” the older boy asked then.

“I… you won’t be mad?” the blond asked.

“No, Ni, why would I?”

Niall sighed again, “remember when I told you why I came to London?” he asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Liam nodded, remembering Niall’ story.

“Well… I might work with her…” the blond asked in a weak voice and looked at Liam, worry in his eyes.

“Oh.” was all Liam could came up with in that moment while he stayed there, blinking at Niall who looked down. “Did you talk to her?” he asked after a minute of silence.

“No- well, she kind of talked to me but I ignored her and kind of spent the whole day hiding from her.”

“Did like…” the older boy started, but he didn’t know if he wanted to ask, he didn’t know if he wanted to know the answer.

“Did, what?”

“Did you like- uhm- felt something?” Liam asked slowly and felt his cheeks growing a little heated due to being embarrassed.

“I felt like throwing up, does that count?” Niall said trying to light up his boyfriend’s mood. He knew what Liam was asking, “but no, nothing, Li, how could I when I have you?” he answered honestly then, moving a little closer to the brown haired boy to put a hand on his cheek, Liam leaning into the touch.

“Sorry,” Liam said, “it’s not like I don’t trust you or anything- I just-“ he was cut off by Niall putting a finger on his lips.

“Don’t.” he assured him, “you don’t have to worry about that, okay? I love _you_.”

“I know, I know- sorry, I’m just being dumb.”

“You’re not. I just wanted to tell you though, was that okay? Or should I just kept my mouth shut?”

“No, no, it’s okay, thanks for telling me.” Liam smiled a little and spoke again, “are you… are you okay with it? I mean, do you feel okay, Ni?”

Niall then looked at him, damn, he knew him too well, “I… I do, I mean, it was weird when I saw her, kind of shocking and like, lots of memories flooded into my mind but I just pushed them away, you know? I’m okay.”

Liam nodded, “you can talk to me when you want, you know that, right?”

“I know.” The blond assured him with a smile, “let’s move on now, yeah? Tell me about your day.”

Liam smiled at the blond as he started to talk about how uni was definitely going to kill him this semester and that he’ll probably have to ask for some more vitamins he didn’t want to die, which reminded him that he had an appointment with the doctor soon.

*

Luckily for both boys, the week was good, Liam was already into his routine again and Niall was just more than happy with his classes (he even learned a new dish already! Liam couldn’t wait to try it) and comfortable in his new work. Well, except for… you know, her. But he tried his best, he ignored her most of the time unless it was necessary that he had to talk to her and even then, he kept the contact to a minimum. Not because the feelings were coming back, hell, no, but because it reminded him a lot of what happened to him in the past and he already moved on from that, this was the new Niall, ready for whatever life had to offer to him.

The important thing now was, Liam’s birthday was in a week and he wanted to organize a… surprise party wouldn’t be the right term so… surprise reunion? Did that make sense? Anyways, he was thinking about preparing lots of food and a cake (which of course won’t be prepared at their flat, but at some of their friends) and invite the lads and his family over, and as Liam’s birthday was on Friday and everyone had things to do, he’ll invite all of them on Saturday. And that way he could have Liam all to himself on Friday.

As soon as he was out of work that day, he made sure to call Liam’s mum before getting home. So after dialing the number (which he had stolen from Liam’s phone) he just waited a few seconds before Karen answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Karen? This is Niall.”

“Oh, Niall! How are you?”

“I’m good, good. How are you?”

“Very good, thanks. Why are you calling, love? Did something happen to Liam?” she asked, a little worried.

“No, no. Liam is fine. I was wondering if you’ll be coming to London for his birthday, I was thinking about preparing a nice lunch and all, you know, his birthday’s on Friday but I thought Saturday will be better for all of us as there’s no work or classes or anything to do.”

“Oh, that’s very nice of you, Niall. Is this a surprise?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Alright, we’ll be there on Saturday then, thank you for calling, Niall!”

“Please, you’re his family, you should be here, I know how much he misses all of you.”

“We miss him too.” Karen said, “see you soon, then, bye Niall.”

“See you, bye!”

And after making sure of that, he was ready to go home with a smile on his face. This was going to be perfect. But as he started walking towards the bus stop, he didn’t notice his oh, best friend (note the sarcasm) following him.

*

Liam’s birthday was a day away, and of course Niall had taken care of everything, the food was already prepared at his friend’s house, and Karen had already told him they were coming on Saturday. So when he woke up that Thursday, all he need to do was just wait one more day and then Friday to spend with his boyfriend, which he thought about taking out to dinner.

“Tomorrow’s your birthday!” Niall yelled as he entered the room with a trail and breakfast on it just as Liam was waking up.

“Hey,” the older boy said, his voice sounding still sleepy, “I know. What’s this for?” he said looking at their breakfast, it’s been a while since they had breakfast in bed.

Niall shrugged, “woke up early so I made some.”

Liam then smiled at him and of course the first thing he attacked, was his coffee.

After eating and putting up their clothes for the day, they headed outside their flat and went right into Liam’s car (has he ever mentioned how thankful he was for his parents when they gave him such a useful present?) and then he started driving towards Niall’s school.

Niall’s day was excellent, his classes were great, he even learned some tricks to cook specific things, he was loving his teachers and classes until now.

And work was even better because Alison (that’s her name, just in case you were wondering) had the day off so he wasn’t preoccupied with hiding and running away from her all day.

Good, today was good, Niall thought.

*

Liam’s day wasn’t as bright as Niall’s. Work was hell that day for some reason he didn’t know. He had a stack of paper (which he’ll be doing in a month from now because there was no way he could do all that paperwork in a day) and he had to organize two meetings apart from attending to other two, _before_ going to classes. Great.

Just as he was out of work, he realized he forgot two of his books at home, which meant, he’ll had to get to his flat quick to get them and try to make it on time for his first class.

Luckily to him, he got home fast enough and grabbed his books and checked twice before leaving just to be sure he wasn’t forgetting anything.

What he wasn’t expecting was what he saw when he opened the door to leave. A girl with hazel eyes and long light brown hair, wearing a pretty dress, standing in front of his door.

“Uhm, can I help you?” he offered to the girl.

She frowned, “does Niall Horan live here?” she asked.

“Yes, may I ask who you are?”

She smiled at him and extended his hand which Liam took as she spoke, “my name’s Alison, I work with Niall and we’re uhm, friends.” She said with a wink and a smug smile.

_‘Alison, why does that name sound so famil- oh.’_ Liam thought.

“Is he home?” she asked.

“No, he’s working right now, won’t be home until late.” He told her, his tone maybe a little harsher than was needed.

“Oh.” She said blinking, “alright, I’ll come back later then, thank you!” she said smiling and turned away and started walking off.

So much for having a terrible day, huh?

*

That night when Niall got home after work with a smile plastered on his face after having an amazing day, he found Liam sitting on the living room with a frown.

“Hi, Li.” He said sitting next to him.

“What are you smiling about? Did you see your ‘uhm, friend’ today?” he asked bitterly but still imitating Alison’s voice. Niall didn’t get that though.

Niall’s face changed into one of utter confusion, “what?”

“Your co-worker and ‘friend’,” Liam said making air quotes, “Alison, was here looking for you today.” Niall’s eyes went wide at his words, “why are you surprised? Is there something I should know that you haven’t been telling me?” Liam asked maybe sounding a little angrier than needed, but he was in all his rights, wasn’t he? The girl that was the reason his boyfriend was in London, was now looking for him, and she knew where he lived. That meant something, right?

“No, Liam, I swear-“

“Don’t swear, what does she want from you?”

“I don’t-“ Niall stared but was cut off by the bell ringing. He stood up to open the door and fuck, this was the last thing he needed right now.

“Hi, Niall!” a very excited (and fake) girl exclaimed and wrapped his arms around him.

“What the fuck? Get off me!” he said pulling away from her embrace.

“But Niall, please, don’t you think life crossed our lives again for a reason? We can try again!”

“No!” he yelled and turned his head to look at Liam who was sitting there, looking at him with a mix of anger and sadness in his eyes before standing up and going into his bedroom and shutting the door close loudly.

“Kind of a temperament he has there, huh?” Alison said with a chuckle.

“Stay away from me, I don’t want anything to do with you, didn’t you get it at work? The way I’m always trying not to talk to you?”

“But that’s because you’re shy, Niall, I already know that.”

“No, you don’t, you don’t know shit about me, you ruined my life, just- just stay away from me, yeah? Go away.” He said angrily before closing the door right in her face.

He went to turn around and head to the room where Liam was locked up when he heard a knock on the door and a “Niall!” from the other side.

He opened the door again and tried to talk as calm as possible but with a serious tone, “listen, whatever was between us was too fucking long ago and it doesn’t even matter anymore, I don’t want you, Alison, just go away, find someone else to ruin their lives, you’ve already messed up mine enough, yeah?”

“Niall, you’re being dramatic.” She said rolling her eyes.

“Do you have any idea what I went through after you kicked me out? No. Then you don’t know shit.” He said still as calmly as he could before adding a “goodbye” and closing the door again.

This time there wasn’t any knock on the door so he went straight to his room to find the door locked.

“Li, open the door, please?”

“No, go away.” Liam’s voice came muffled from the other side of the door.

“Liam, please, open up.” He tried again.

“No.”

“Please.” Niall said again, this time trying to hold up the tears, he really, really didn’t want to mess this up, he didn’t want to lose Liam, he _couldn’t._ And for something he didn’t even do!

“Just go away, Niall, please.” Liam’s voice came again muffled but sounded like a plead.

“I didn’t do anything, I love you.” Niall mumbled, now crying and not even sure if Liam could hear him. But he still did as he was told. He picked up his bag and left.

*

He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this but it wasn’t fucking fair, he didn’t do anything! He would never, he loved Liam with all his heart! Why would he go back to that bitch when all she did was fuck his life up? He couldn’t even look at her in the face and now Liam didn’t even want to see him.

He was now walking around the city, and even though he could just walk up to Louis and Harry’s or Zayn’s door and they’ll take him in, he didn’t want to. He felt like walking around in the windy night.

He wanted to stop crying, he really did, but he just couldn’t, did he just lose everything he had? Was he about to lose it all? He knew people walking past him was looking, staring at him but he couldn’t give a damn, the only person he wanted to be looked by couldn’t even bare the sight of him. Oh, the irony.

After about two hours of walking towards nowhere, he found himself standing in front of a shelter. _‘Good old friend’_ he thought. He let out a sigh before walking in and most of the people working there were surprised to see him as he didn’t even make an appearance in that place for almost a year now. He smiled at them and asked if he could spend the night there and of course they’d said yes. This wasn’t the way he wanted to spend his night, he’d rather be at home, snuggled close to Liam.

Liam. He looked at the clock. 00:02 a.m. It was officially Liam’s birthday and he wasn’t there to hug him and kiss him and spoil him. He took his phone out of his pocket, intending to send him a text but he had no luck, his battery was dead. He wanted to smash his phone against a wall but he knew better.

He recalled the events of the day while he laid in a bed which wasn’t his, _theirs_ , and not nearly as comfortable or warm, and without even noticing, tears were falling down his face again until he fell asleep.

*

When Liam came out of his room, _their_ room, after like two hours, he found an empty flat. He didn’t mean it like that, he didn’t mean for Niall to actually leave. He just wanted some time to himself and now he just ruined everything. Good, Liam, good.

He wasn’t in the mood for anything that wasn’t _NiallNiallNiall_ , so he sat in his sofa and waited. It was midnight when he realized (and only because of the happy birthday’s texts) and Niall wasn’t home yet. He was starting to get worried. He sent him a text telling him to come home to talk but he got no answer. He called him and it went to voicemail. Shit, he really did ruin it, right?

In no time he found himself curled up in the sofa, already a mess of tears (and Ash right by his side, looking at him with sad eyes as if he knew something was up), he just couldn’t bare the thought of losing Niall, it was too much, just- no, he wasn’t going to allow that to happen. After spending two hours locked up in that room, he came to the conclusion that he was being stupid, that Niall didn’t give that Alison girl any sign of him wanting to be with her, the way he had pushed her away and almost yelled at her when Niall was almost always calm (despite being a very loud person), and he just let himself be influenced by the words of some stranger he didn’t know, some stranger that had once ruined his boyfriend’s life. How could he be so stupid? He was the worst. Niall loved him, he really did and he still pushed him away.

He fell asleep sometime in between his cries and when he woke up the next morning at around ten, he was still surrounded by silence. He stood up and walked to the room in hopes that Niall had came back and was sleeping there safe and sound, but he wasn’t and his heart and stomach dropped. What if something happened to him while he was asleep on that couch? What if he was having a rough time out there while he was still warm in their home?

_‘No, you stop that right now, Liam’_ he thought to himself and took a deep breath to clear his mind. So first of all, he called his boss to call in sick, seeing as he wasn’t moving from the sofa and he was already late. And instead of freaking out, he opted to text his friends, he sent Louis and Zayn a text asking them if they had seen Niall of if he was there with them. There was no point in texting Harry too if he was under the same roof as Louis. And he got a reply from Zayn first. Huh, weird, as it was still early, _‘he’s not here, shouldn’t he be with you?’_ the text simply said and he sighed, not even bothering to reply.

Two minutes later, he got a reply from Louis, _‘why would he be here? shouldn’t he be in your bed? (;’_ , well he couldn’t expect any other type of message from Louis but fuck he was right. Niall should be in his bed, with him sleeping next to him, cuddled together, their bodies so close you couldn’t define which limb belonged to which of them. He answered him though, _‘had a fight last night, he’s not here, don’t know where he is, i’m worried’_ he sent his friend, and apparently got lost in his own thought for who knows how long after sending that because the next thing he knew was someone was ringing the bell furiously.

He stood up from the sofa again and walked to the door in hopes that it was Niall who had forgotten his keys last night or something before leaving but it wasn’t him, instead, Louis, Harry and Zayn were standing there with worried expressions.

Liam just left the door open for them to enter and went to where he was sitting on the sofa, and automatically brought his legs to his chest and his eyes went watery again.

Zayn was the last to enter the room, closing the door behind him just as Louis sat next to him on the sofa and Harry kneeled in front of him.

“What happened?”

“I- we-“ Liam started but was unable to keep talking while trying to swallow the sobs because where the fuck was Niall and why wasn’t he answering his phone?

“Hey, hey, breathe.” Louis told him and put a hand on his shoulder, “just talk when you’re ready.”

A few minutes had passed until Liam’s breathing was going to normal again, “I fucked up everything.” He said.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Harry said softly, “do you want to tell us what happened?”

“It’s a long story,” he said and then sobbed, “and I don’t know if Niall ever told you why he’s here in London.”

“I don’t think he did.” Zayn added with a thoughtful expression.

“But you guys had a fight about something that happened so long ago?” Harry asked confused.

“It’s not something, it’s a someone.”

The three boys frowned, what the fuck was happening?

Liam was about to open his mouth to speak again but heard the lock of the door being opened and pale skin and blond hair entering the room. He stood up from his spot and flew to Niall’s side not without almost knocking Harry to the floor.

Liam wrapped his arms around the blonde’s neck and held him tight while Niall’s hands went to wrap around Liam’s middle. They stayed like that for a moment until,

“Li, I can’t breathe.” Niall’s voice came muffled.

“I’m sorry,” Liam said, letting go of Niall, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He kept saying and looked straight at Niall in the eye with his eyes still a little watery.

The blond knew he wasn’t apologizing for not letting his breathe properly, so he just shook his head and took his bag in his hands before opening it and taking out a single rose and handing it to Liam, “happy birthday” he said with a small smile.

The older boy took the rose and hugged Niall again, “thank you. Don’t you ever leave me again.” He whispered in the blonde’s ear.

The other three boys who were still there had smiles on their faces. “I think we should go now.” Harry said.

“But it’s Liam’s birthday and reunions are cute and-“

“And I said I think we should go.” Harry said again and looked at him with an exasperated face.

“Ugh, alright.” Louis said and walked towards the door, “you guys have fun and be happy, yeah?”

Liam then unwrapped himself from Niall’s body, “you can come over at night, we’ll have dinner or something, yeah?”

“Alright,” Harry said, “text us later or something, you need to solve some things here first.”

Both Niall and Liam nodded and then, their three friends were gone.

“I think we need to talk about this, huh?” Liam said then with a sniff.

“ Yeah…” he said and went to sit on the sofa. “Listen, Liam, I’m-“

“No! No, Ni, _I_ am sorry, I completely overreacted and I was being dramatic when I didn’t even give you a chance to speak and look how it ended.”

“I swear I didn’t know she was going to try anything, I never talked to her not even at work, I swear, Liam, I swear.” Niall told him and put a hand over Liam’s one. “I don’t even know how she knows where we live.”

“Don’t worry, we can get over this, yes?” Liam said, running a hand through Niall’s hair. “I didn’t meant for you to completely leave the flat last night, I just needed some time alone to think and-“

“It’s okay, I get it,” Niall gave him a small smile, “we’re okay, right?”

“We’re okay.” Liam told him and kissed him softly on the lips. “Where did you go last night anyways?”

“I…” Niall started but then moved his eyes to the floor, “I walked around the city for I don’t know how long and then… then I found myself in a shelter I used to go so I asked if I could sleep there.” He said like he was embarrassed, his voice sounded very small.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Ni, I didn’t mean for that to happen.” Liam told him as he hugged him and held him close.

“It’s alright, I wanted to text you by midnight to tell you happy birthday but my battery was dead,” he sighed, “I thought you wouldn’t want to see me again and I missed our bed so much, that thing wasn’t even close to warm or comfortable and you weren’t there and I thought I had lost you and-“ he was abruptly cut off by Liam kissing him.

“Don’t. Don’t say that, it breaks my heart. I swear to God I can’t be mad at you for even two seconds, you should have seen me when I saw you weren’t here last night, I was worried as fuck. Jesus, Niall, let’s not fight ever again, please?”

Niall nodded and went to kiss him, it was ridiculous how much he missed Liam even though they were apart for less than twenty four hours, but it wasn’t about that, it was about the emotion, how he felt towards each other and the rush of feelings they had running through them the last hours. Soon the kiss grew a lot more passionate, and Niall ended up sitting on Liam’s lap.

“Bedroom.” Niall mumbled against Liam’s lips and he nodded, both of them standing up and then walking to their room.

As soon as the room’s door was closed behind them, they resumed their kissing while walking towards the bed. Niall was about to fell on the bed and bring with Liam with him when the older boy suddenly spun them around and fell backwards on the bed, Niall on top of him as he spread his legs to wrap them around the blonde’s waist to bring him closer although they were still wearing clothes.

Niall kissed softly along Liam’s neck, “you sure?” he asked and Liam nodded.

It started with Liam tugging at the hem of the blonde’s shirt and not long enough, the rest of their clothes were piled up somewhere on the floor.

They were now naked on the bed, bodies grinding slowly against each other while still kissing, their breaths mixing and some gasps escaping their mouths.

Liam tugged at Niall’s hair, making the blonde let out a low moan, “Niii” he intended on saying but came out as a muffled moan.

“Alright, we’re getting to it, yeah?” the blonde said and kissed him on the cheek before moving away to look for lube on his bedside table and then moved back to the bed between the older boy’s legs.

Preparing Liam was something that always took him a lot longer than he expected (or longer than the time he’d like to spend doing it), because well, he could count with the fingers of a hand the times that Liam had bottomed when they had sex. But there was something hypnotizing about doing it though, he was able to see how Liam’s face changed from pain to pleasure, hear how the hisses turned into gasps and nice moans and feel how his body went from tense to relaxed. This time was no different, and as always, he kissed the inside of his thighs and caressed his skin while fingering him slowly, just pumping his length when he felt it was necessary if Liam was feeling too much pain or just to distract him.

After the long time it took Niall to prep him, Liam nodded at him, signaling that it was okay, that he was ready. The blonde then lubed up himself and positioned in front of Liam and pushed slowly, the older boy’s mouth opened but no sound came out, while Niall supported his weight on his hands on each side of Liam’s face and then lowered his head to kiss him once he was completely inside.

It took Liam a while to get used to the intrusion but once he felt okay again, he nodded to Niall to start moving. The blond was half way out when Liam spoke.

“Wait.” he said and supported himself by grabbing Niall’s arms.

“What? Are you okay? Did it hurt?” the blonde asked, already starting to get paranoid.

Liam shook his head no, “just- go slow, yeah? I like it when you go slow.” He said shyly and a small blush appeared on his cheeks.

Niall just smiled at him, “whatever the birthday boy wants” he assured him and pecked him on the lips before started moving again.

It was slow, their bodies moving in sync as small gasps would escape from the older boy’s mouth whenever Niall would brush or hit that spot. Needless to say that Niall was dying to speed up and fuck him senseless but tonight was not about him, so instead he kept a steady rhythm. Hands were running and traveling down their bodies, and Liam kept on tugging his hair just because he knew the blonde liked it, and running his hands through his back. Niall would run a finger across his cheek, down his jawline and then kiss him, leaving a trail from his mouth to his collarbones.

Niall was so close and all those little sounds Liam was making were pushing him even more to the edge until-

“Wait, wait.” Liam said.

“What is it?” Niall asked.

“I want to change positions.” The older boy told him so Niall pulled out.

Liam made him sit with his back against the headboard as he took his cock in his hand and guided it inside him again.

“Shit.” It came out of Liam’s mouth as a breath.

“You alright?” Niall asked him running his hands softly through his back.

The older boy nodded, “yeah, just- so full” he said and Niall smiled at him.

“Is that bad?” he asked but he knew it wasn’t, actually it was one of his favorite positions for when he was bottoming.

“No,” Liam told him, “just different. A good full.”

“I know,” the blonde commented and kissed him, “just go when you’re ready.” Liam nodded at his words.

A minute after, Liam started moving and Niall held him by the waist to help him support his weight. It was slow at first, just as before, but after a couple of minutes, Liam started speeding the way he moved his hips and then wrapped a hand around his cock.

“Ni, I-“

“Yeah, me too, babe, come on.” Niall said as he started thrusting a little harder and a minute later, Liam was coming between their bodies with a long moan, Niall following right after when he felt the other boy clenching around him and sucked on Liam’s neck while riding out his high.

Liam lifted his hips and felt Niall slipping out and let his body fell on the bed beside the blonde.

“That was amazing.” He said still breathlessly.

Niall then moved from his sitting position against the headboard and laid next to Liam and kissed him tenderly, “I know. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Liam told him and then took a blanket and threw it over their bodies. A couple of minutes later, they were fast asleep.

*

Niall was the first to wake up to his stomach growling and now that he thought about it, he hadn’t had something to eat in all day.

He felt Liam stir by his side and then opened his eyes slowly. “Hi.” The older boy said groggily and with a small smile.

“Hey,” Niall said back with a smile, “you alright? Not sore or something?”

Liam shrugged, “don’t know, haven’t moved yet bu-“ he couldn’t finish his sentence because Niall’s stomach growled loudly, making him chuckle, “you hungry?”

“Yeah, haven’t eaten in all day. I was about to go grab some cereal, you want some?”

“Please.” Liam answered without moving from the bed.

Niall then stood up and walked out of the room, not even bothering about putting boxers on, something that made Liam smile and roll his eyes. He was happy they got to that point in the relationship they were completely comfortable around each other.

Two minutes later, the blonde reentered the room with two bowls of cereal and handed one to Liam, who changed from lying on the bed to a sitting position.

“Nope, not too sore, I’m good” he said smiling.

Niall chuckled, “I’m glad.”

A couple of minutes were spent in silence and then Liam let out a sigh, “today’s been pretty great.”

“Sorry for ruining your morning though.” Niall said sheepishly.

“Sh sh, it doesn’t matter, what’s important is that you’re here now and we’re good and we had amazing sex and now we’re eating cereal in bed at six in the afternoon because we can.”

Niall laughed at his explanation, “I’m happy if you’re happy then.”

Liam shrugged, “I just enjoy the simple things.”

Niall made an ‘mhm’ kind of noise and then silence was back.

“I think I’m going to text the lads to come over later, have some dinner for my birthday, yeah?” Liam asked after a while.

“Sure. I’ll go have a shower then.” Niall said as he finished his cereal and placed the bowl on his nightstand before heading to the bathroom.

Liam texted the boys and they were over at his flat around eight were they called some Mexican place and ordered tacos, just for the sake of changing a bit (not that they were bored of pizza, because who gets bored of pizza, right?) and drank some while watching a game and made stupid jokes. Of course Niall ended up making a mess of eating the taco though, half of the filling ended up on his shirt but hey, they had fun because of him. The rest of the boys hadn’t asked about what had happened between the two of them the previous day and this morning because now it was not the time to do it but they’ll come around.

Despite being Liam’s birthday, the night was spent like any other night, and as Liam liked to put it, he liked to enjoy the simple things in life.

*

The next morning, Niall’s alarm started ringing at about ten in the morning. Liam shifted on the bed and turned around.

“Why do you have to wake up early on a Saturday?” he mumbled almost intelligible and still closed eyes.

“I don’t,” Niall lied, “I must have done something on my phone and created a new alarm or something, go back to sleep.”

“Mhm.” Was all that came from Liam as he snuggled with his pillow and was asleep again in no time.

Niall smiled and waited a couple of minutes before getting up from the bed, just in case Liam wasn’t completely asleep yet. When he assured himself that he was, he got up and put a pair of sweatpants before grabbing his phone and leaving the room.

He sent a quick text to Harry and Zayn, again, no point in texting Louis if he lived with Harry, and also, he never paid attention to his phone. _‘already up, liam’s still asleep, you can come over and bring the food. don’t ring the bell though, text me when you’re here’_ , before starting to accommodate some things on the living room and then having a shower.

Just as he stepped out of the bathroom, his phone vibrated, _‘open the door nialllllll’_ came from Harry, he laughed internally and went to the door, and his three friends appeared with trays, plates and stuff.

“Alright, Liam’s family should be here any moment, so you guys go hide somewhere and I’ll wake Liam and tell him to have a shower, yeah?” the three boys nodded and went to balcony, easiest way to ‘hide’ somewhere and not be seen as they had curtains.

Niall walked inside the room and sat beside Liam and put his hand on the older boy’s bare shoulder, “Liiiii, wake up.” He said softly.

Liam groaned and mumbled something incoherent that made the blonde chuckle, “asdlfjwhy?” he asked pressing his face into the pillow.

“It’s almost noon and I thought we could go out for lunch,” he shrugged, “come on, get up and go have a shower.”

Liam mumbled some more incoherences before finally getting up from the bed and into the bathroom.

Niall then prepared all the food their friends had brought, set the table and just when he heard the water had stopped running on the bathroom, his phone vibrated with a text from Karen, _‘we’re already at the door!’_ it said and Niall went immediately to open the door as he thought it was all perfect timing.

They all, Liam’s family such as his friends, sat in the living room to wait for Liam.

When Liam walked out of the bathroom, wearing a simple white shirt and a pair or sweatpants, he was drying his hair with a towel until-

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” it came from a group of people.

He took the towel off his head and, “oh my God,” he said with a surprised face, “what are you all doing here?”

“What does it seem like we’re doing? We’re here to have a reunion to which you’re clearly not invited.” Louis said sarcastically, earning a pat on the back of his head from Harry and laughs from everyone else in the room.

“Wow,” he said and moved to hug everyone in there, especially his family who he hasn’t seen in a while. “Have you planned this?”

“Actually, Niall did.” His mother told him.

“Aw, thanks, Ni.” He said and move to face the blond and pecked him on the lips, earning an ‘awww’ from everyone. “And where did all this food came from?” he asked when he saw all the food on the table.

“Niall. Who else?” Zayn said and Liam rolled his eyes but chuckled.

“Right, let’s get to eat then, I’m starving!” Liam exclaimed and everyone agreed as they placed around the table.

Seriously, Liam couldn’t be any happier, there he was, sitting with his family, friends and boyfriend, having lunch to celebrate his twenty one birthday. _‘Niall’s so amazing’_ he remembered thinking, and it’s true, Niall’s always about giving and giving everything he had just to make him happy.

The lunch was fun, Liam had the chance to caught up with his family, and they were able to get to see Harry and Louis again, who they haven’t seen in a while (but no one talked about what was going on between them though) and they had the chance to meet Zayn too. Niall was of course as comfortable as always, he loved Liam’s family just as much as they loved him.

They all stayed for the rest of the day, talked lots, no escaping for Liam when his family talked about when he was a kid and anecdotes that put him to shame even though everyone thought it was adorable. Because Liam was still adorable in some way, despite the hair and the scruff and all the muscle, he still had a big heart.

When it was almost dinner time, the boys’ friends and Liam’s family decided it was time to go so they could give Liam and Niall some time alone. This time, the Payne family had booked some rooms in a hotel so they didn’t have to stay at Liam’s, and of course, he said it was ridiculous and they should’ve stayed there with them, but it was all done now.

Just as the door closed after everyone was out, Liam let out a happy sigh and went to sit next to Niall on the sofa, “thanks, Ni, best birthday ever.”

“No need to thank me, I know how much you miss your family.”

“Love you.” Liam told him as he rested his head on the blonde’s shoulder.

“Love you too.” Niall said back, “oh, hey! I bought you something and I completely forgot about it yesterday!” he exclaimed, standing up and walking into their room, leaving Liam confused.

“You didn’t need to buy anything for me.”

“I know,” Niall shrugged, “but I told you I’ll spoil you when I had a job, so that’s what I’m going to do.” He said smiling and handed Liam a pair of tickets.

“And you just say it as it is nothing!” Liam said looking at the tickets for the next weekend game with an excited face, “this is awesome, Ni, thank you!”

“I knew you’d like it.” the blond smiled, “I’ve never been to a game before.”

“It’s gonna be great, you’ll love it.”

“Yeah, probably.” Niall laughed.

“No, but seriously, this is the best birthday ever, thank you thank you thank you.” Liam said and threw himself at Niall, kissing him all over the face.

“Aaaaaaah, get off me!” Niall yelled but laughed.

“Never!” Liam yelled back and kept on kissing him. Niall was truly all Liam needed in his life right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you all wanted dom!Liam, but patience is a virtue, so you just wait a little and you'll have it. (;   
> Anyways, I've been writing the next chapter for it seems like forever even though it hasn't but I just can't seem to know where it's going. And the reason I didn't update earlier it's because I've been taking a break from this story, I didn't want to rush into writing it and not have the chance to finish it in a proper way. And I am not even happy with this chapter so I don't know, I really hope you don't think it's horrible.   
> As always, thank you all for reading, ily! (: x


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “SURPRISE!” everyone yelled and Niall’s face changed to one of pure surprise, his mouth even hanging a little open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of lost track about when was the last time I updated but oh well, hope this is not a million years later, lol.  
> also, I'm sorry this is so long!

The weekend after Liam’s birthday, the boys went to the match Niall had got the tickets for. That day Liam had been bouncing all day and telling Niall he was the best and that he completely loved him and thanks for the tickets and that he was very happy because he hadn’t been to a game since he was in his first year of high school. And Niall kept telling him that it was okay, that he had wanted to make him happy and that he knew how much Liam had wanted to go to one. The blond had smiled the whole day watching Liam being so excited.

The whole game Liam had went from being completely concentrated during every move and every play the players made and from that to completely crazy and screaming with the crowd. Well, Niall was pretty much a fan of football too, so maybe he wouldn’t like to admit it but he was in the same state. Well, in the end, their team won, so after that, they went to have dinner and beers to celebrate.

Now they were a week away from Niall’s birthday and Liam wanted to surprise him. So Liam had stolen Niall’s phone from a minute when he wasn’t playing attention to get the numbers he needed.

“Hello?” a voice asked from the other side of the line after Liam waited for a couple of beeps.

“Oh, hey Greg! Liam here.”

“Liam! Haven’t talked in a while, how are you man?”

“I’m good, how’s everything there?”

“Good, we’re good. To what do I ought your call?” Greg asked them.

“Oh, uhm, you know, Niall’s birthday is close and I wanted to surprise him and I thought I should ask you and your parents, of course, to come over. My family is coming too and I thought it would be good opportunity for everyone to know each other.”

“You know I’d love to, and my parents will probably too, but we need to talk to our works before and we need to talk about the money as we’re gonna need a place to stay there.” Greg told him with a sigh.

“I know…” Liam said thoughtfully, “well my parents are not staying with us here and we have a spare room, maybe you can stay here, I mean, someone would have to sleep on the couch, and I’d do it if it’s necessary, I just want you guys to come and see Niall. And I know his birthday’s on Friday, maybe you can come on Saturday, so you won’t miss too many days at work?” he told Greg.

“Alright, Liam, just let me talk to my parents and we’ll see what we can do and I’ll call you or something to let you know, yeah?”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Greg.”

“No, thank you, Liam. We’ll talk soon! Bye!”

And after saying his goodbye, Liam hung up the phone, now it’s just a matter of time. He’ll have to find someone to cook the food though, because he knew that no matter how hard he tried, he was probably going to end up making a mess. He’ll have to ask his mum then.

*

After Niall’s “fight” with Liam, things haven’t been a lot easier at work. Alison was still getting him on his nerves. He really didn’t know what to do anymore. He tried being indifferent, an ass and he even tried being nice! And she just kept coming and talking to him! Sometimes he even left work in a hurry and letting out a deep sigh when he was out of there. He even got to the point of thinking about quitting, because as much as he loved his job at the moment, he loved Liam more. And that was actually what kept him in there, he had a great idea for their first anniversary, but he needed quite some money for it.

He had talked to his boss about it and if he had to be honest, he was worried he wouldn’t say yes to what he had to ask, after all, he hadn’t been working there for long yet, but after a good amount of time talking about a way to make it work (he’ll need some days off and to be paid two months of his salary at once), they found a way. He couldn’t wait to work extra hours, yaaaaay! Note the sarcasm.

Now that it was all settled, he only needed to buy everything. Liam was gonna love this.

*

Niall’s birthday was tomorrow and everything was settled. Liam had asked his mum to help him with the food and Harry said he’ll take care of the cake. Greg had called and told him they’ll arrive in London on Saturday sometime during noon, so Liam gave him his address and they’ll be there to surprise him.

He was satisfied with what he’d organized, even though there was going to be too many people for their apartment, but they’ll make it work. Or at least he hoped.

He was excited about his family meeting Niall’s one, he was pretty sure they’ll get along pretty well, the only one he wasn’t completely sure about was Bobby. He knew he loved his son and that was the reason he was trying so hard to accept Liam, but Liam’s parents had always been very accepting and protective of him, and he didn’t know how Niall’s father was going to react to that. His parents weren’t ones to fight though, so it’s not like anything was going to happen, but still, he didn’t want to create and awkward or uncomfortable tension on the blonde’s birthday.

 _‘Everything will be fine, our parents know better than to ruin our relationship’_ , Liam thought. And hopefully, it’ll be that way.

*

The next morning, a.k.a. Niall’s birthday, Liam woke up early and decided to make breakfast for the birthday boy. So he put some sweatpants and tip toed out of the room to make sure not to wake Niall.  

When he walked into the kitchen, he went straight to the fridge and took some eggs and bacon (which he didn’t even knew they had but he was sure Niall bought) and took a pan and started frying. He started making some coffee and laid his hips against the counter while the coffee maker worked and the food was cooking. And he swear he stood there for like two seconds thinking that for once in his life he hadn’t messed up in the kitchen… until he smelled something burning. It couldn’t be… and then he turned around and saw it. The eggs and the bacon were completely black. He took the pan out of the burner quickly and stood there with a sad frown on his face. _‘Great, Liam, just great!’_ he thought to himself as he stood there watching the mess he made. Good to know you can’t burn coffee… can’t you?

He didn’t know how much time he spent in there watching until Niall came into the kitchen.

“Liam, something’s burni-“ the blonde said as he entered the kitchen, voice groggy and rubbing his eyes, but stopped as soon as he was standing next to Liam and saw his face. “Hey, Li.” He said softly.

“I’m sorry.” The older mumbled.

“What for?”

“I- I wanted to try and make you a nice breakfast but I just ruined it. Again. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I keep trying.” He said with a sigh.

“Aw, don’t be so hard on you, Li.” The blonde told him and running a hand up and down his boyfriend’s back.

“I really wanted to do something simple and nice for you.” Liam said still with that sad frown on his face.

“Come on, stop pouting,” Niall said giving him a kiss, “we can go grab some breakfast before I go to class and you to work, yeah? It’s still early.”

“Okay.” Liam said nodding, “I tried.” He sighed again.

“I know you did. Thank you.” Niall told him. “Come have a shower with me.” He said and took Liam’s hand in his and walked out of the kitchen and towards the bathroom.

Nothing really interesting really happened in there, just some kisses under the warm water and a muttered “happy birthday, babe” from Liam in between kisses.

They still had some time once they were out of the shower, so they just put their clothes on and headed out of the flat.

They stopped at a little café in their way to work/college and grabbed breakfast, consisting in: coffee for Liam, obviously, and some weird exotic tea Niall wanted to try, and some muffins. They didn’t really had enough time to sit and have a proper breakfast so they took it to the car to eat while on their way, which ended up in Niall trying to feed Liam his muffin while he was driving, which ended on a mess of crumbs on Liam’s clothes and car and a bunch of giggles. It was good though, Liam’s day had got better significantly.

During the day Niall had received many ‘happy birthday’s’, from people that were in classes with him and even one of his teachers who also told him _‘how come it is your birthday and you bring no cake with you when you’re studying to be a chef!’_ , making everyone (including the teacher herself and Niall) laugh.

He also got a couple of greetings at work, and of course, one was from Alison, who ever tried to give him hug but he politely pushed her away. He was getting really sick of her to be honest, and he was really afraid that she’ll try something that could ruin his relationship with Liam as she didn’t know about him. Actually, no one in there knew he had a boyfriend, except for his boss, who he had to talk to about his first year’s anniversary with Liam and stuff to do some arrangements.

On the other hand, Liam’s day was full of work, but when wasn’t it? The only thing he wanted was to get out of there and spend the rest of the day with Niall, but of course he couldn’t ‘cause he had classes on the afternoon.

Uni was being really slow and boring that day, so he decided to leave his last class a little earlier, excusing himself saying he needed to be somewhere else, so he could go pick Niall at work as a surprise.

He was driving towards the restaurant Niall worked in and stopped midway with the intention of buying flowers, but as soon as he entered the shop and looked at all the bouquets and stuff, he decided that maybe a bunch of flowers will be too much, so he opted for just a single white rose.

When he got to the place, there were only five more minutes until Niall was out, and he remembered he once told him he used the back door to exit so he used those minutes to look for that door. He found it easily and he waited there, lying against a wall, hiding the rose behind him.

When Niall came out of the door, his attention was focused on his phone, so he walked past Liam on his way and the older boy rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. Niall then lifted his head and looked confused when he saw Liam standing there but smiled at him anyways.

Liam handed him the single rose and whispered “happy birthday” as Niall took it and smelled it before placing his hands on Liam’s neck and kissed him. Liam’s hands went to Niall’s hips as an immediate reflex just when they heard someone coming out of the door calling the blonde.

“Hey, Niall, think we co- oh my God.” The voice exclaimed and the boys pulled apart to see a very surprised (eyes wide, mouth hanging open and everything) Alison.

Liam looked a little flushed but Niall just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, not even bothering to move his hands from Liam’s neck.

“What the fuck” she said still in shock.

Niall rolled his eyes, “is there something you need, Alison?”

And then something unexpected happened, the girl moved to push Liam away from Niall, “stay away from him, you freak.” She said almost hissing.

“What the fuck, Alison, what are you doing?! You stay away from me!” Niall said moving away from her to go towards Liam.

“Niall what are you doing, he’s your roommate-“

Niall cut her off with a snort, “my roommate? Where did you get that from? He’s my boyfriend.” He said, maybe a little harsher than needed, but maybe this was his opportunity to ‘subtly’ tell her to fuck off.

“Your boyf- what are you talking about?”

“What you just heard, my boyfriend.” He said talking Liam’s hand in his, who was still standing in there, looking between Niall and Alison, not really knowing what to say. “Aren’t you, babe?” Niall asked then, turning to look at Liam.

“Of course.” He said sincerely and with a smile, because who would deny being in a relationship with someone so amazing and perfect as Niall?

“See?” Niall then looked at Alison again with an arched eyebrow, as if he was challenging her.

“But you’re not- you’re not gay, Niall, I know that for a fact.” She retort then, arching her eyebrow too.

“Well let me tell you that you and me was a terrible mistake in the past.”

“What? Are you going to say that you regret it? You traveled all the way here for me, Niall, remember?”

“Of course I do,” he hissed, “and I do regret it, you have no idea how much.” he told her hissing again and with a serious face.

“Niall.” Liam said seriously and looked at him.

Niall then came out of his angry trance and looked at Liam who was looking at him with a ‘no need to be that harsh’ serious look. He sighed and when he looked at Alison, her face was red and she looked like she was ready to scream at the top of her lungs, but instead, she just turned around with an “I hate you” and stormed into the restaurant again.

Liam then sighed, “that was completely unnecessary, Ni.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Niall said, “she’s been stalking and following me around since I started working here, it was just a matter of time until I told her, I swear, Liam, I tried to be reasonable!” he exclaimed throwing his hands in the air, “but she wasn’t having any of it!”

“Alright,” Liam said with another sigh, “let’s just go, yeah?”

Niall nodded and started walking to Liam’s car when he could hear Liam muttered “if it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have met”, but he chose not to say anything about it.

They walked just a few meters until they reached Liam’s car, where Niall opened the passenger door and hopped inside just as Liam walked around and open the door to the car to the driver’s seat.

“So where are we going?” Niall asked excitedly.

“I’m taking you out to dinner, seeing that I can’t even make a breakfast, I’m making sure I’ll be nowhere near the kitchen today before I cause another mess.” He snorted.

“But you don’t have to, I can cook!”

“No, you don’t!” Liam said then, “I mean, yes, you can cook, but it’s your birthday, so you don’t have to and I want to take you out on a nice date, am I not allowed?”

“Of course you are, Li.” Niall said with a smiled and leaned in to peck the older boy.

“Alright then, let’s go home and change clothes and then we’re going out.”

“And where are we going?”

“That’s a surprise.” Liam smiled.

*

Liam had told Niall to wear something fancy for the occasion, and Niall frowned at first because where was Liam taking him? But then decided to play along and wore black pants and shoes (those ones he used only once, for when he graduated) and a white buttoned up shirt but not really all buttoned, he left the top button opened, and styled his hair which meant some point in between his fringe and his quiff. He took a black coat with him.

Liam was pretty much wearing the same, black pants, black shoes and a white shirt only he was wearing it all buttoned up. And a leather jacket. Fuck, he looked good wearing it.

 “Ready to go?” Liam asked and Niall nodded.

They made their way out of the flat and then the building and got into Liam’s car. He started driving while Niall changed the radio every thirty seconds trying to find a song he liked. He finally found one, some Michael Bublé sounding as a background for their car ride. Niall wanted to ask so bad where they were going but he knew Liam wanted it to be a surprise and that he wasn’t going to tell him, so he sat there in silence but with a smile on his face and playing anxiously with his fingers while Liam drove.

“So, how was your birthday today?” the slightly older boy asked.

“Great, one of my teachers told me I should’ve brought a cake to class though,” he laughed and so did Liam, “and it was cool at work, they wished me a happy birthday and stuff, you know how it goes.” He shrugged.

“Yeah, I know.” Liam smiled.

“Li, where are we going?” Niall then asked, his anxiety getting the best of him.

“It’s a surprise, I can’t tell you!”

“Are we near?”

“Kind of, ten minutes and we’ll be there.”

“Okay.” Niall said and sat there, looking ahead with a pout, making Liam chuckle. And of course that when Liam stopped a car at a red light, he turned to kiss the pout of Niall’s face, making the blonde smile against the other boy’s lips.

After some more minutes of being in the car, they came to a stop. Niall frowned, they were almost in the limit of where the city started being a much calmer place.

“Li, where are we- no.” Niall said looking around and seeing a restaurant in the corner. Not any restaurant, it was knows as the best one in London, where all the rich people and even celebrities went. The most refined and expensive one, he’s learned that at work, everyone talked about that place and every chef dreamed about working in there. “We can’t go there.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s- it’s too expensive, I don’t want you to waste all that money on just a dinner.”

“It’s not just a dinner, it’s your birthday dinner, and you deserve it.” Liam smiled.

“But I-“

“No buts, off you go, come on.” Liam said, stretching his arm to open Niall’s door from the inside of the car. Niall sighed and shook his head but couldn’t help but smile as he got out of the car.

As soon as Liam got out of the car, he took Niall’s hand and walked the few meters until they reached the restaurant’s door, where a man asked them if they had a reservation. Liam told him his name and the man led them to a table next to a window. You see, in that restaurant, you could choose to eat inside or outside, where there was a small patio with tables and flowers and stuff. Liam chose to stay inside as it was autumn and it was windy and not warm anymore and he wasn’t going to deal with everything in their table flying away. Nope.

“Can’t believe I’m about to have dinner in here, wow!” Niall exclaimed as he took a seat.

“I knew you were going to like this place.” Liam smiled, sitting in front of him.

“Like it? Liam, this place is every chef’s dream, it’s amazing. Well, at least that’s what I’ve heard.”

“I know, that’s why I chose to come here, so you can have your own opinion too.”

“Thanks, Li.” Niall told him with a little smile and took his hand that was resting on the table.

The blonde now took the time to look around. The place looked very intimate, everything in the room was black and purple, the walls, the floor, even the chair’s upholstery and the tablecloths. The lights were strong enough to see so you didn’t have to force your eyes, but still weak and dim, creating a calm atmosphere while some quiet music played on the background.

Their waiter took him out of his trance when he walked towards their table, “good night, I’m going to be your waiter for the night, if you’d like, we can start with something to drink, may I suggest wine while you look at the menus?” he asked while handing the boys the two menus.

“Of course, wine’s good.”

“Would you like white wine or red wine, sir?”

Liam then looked at Niall, “you choose.”

“I’d like white wine. Uhm, Sauvignon Blanc?” he asked.

“Of course, I’ll be right back.” The waiter said and turned away.

“White roses, white wine. Sauvignon Blanc?” Liam asked with an arched eyebrow, “you can be quite sophisticated.” Liam told him with a small laugh.

Niall then blushed and shrugged and opened his menu. Shit, this was going to be a difficult thing to choose.

A couple of minutes later, their waiter was back with their wine, and after pouring some in their cups, “have you chosen what are you having?”

“Uhm…” Niall started and Liam chuckled.

“Can you give us some more minutes?” Liam asked and the waiter nodded and walked away. “You can pick whatever you want.”

“I know, it’s just too hard.” Niall said with a pout, making Liam chuckle. “I can’t decide between these two.” Niall told him, showing the menu to the older boy and pointing at the ones he was referring, “What do you say?”

“I say you ask for one of those and I’ll ask for the other one, so you can try both.”

“But what did you want to have?”

“I was probably going to ask for pasta because that’s always a safe bet, but I think my life could use some adrenaline.” Liam said laughing.

“You sure?”

“Of course.” Liam nodded.

“Alright. You’re the best, thank you.” Niall said, blowing him a kiss as they weren’t close enough to give him an actual one.

When the waiter was back, they asked for their order and the man told him he’d be back in a couple of minutes. They tried their wine and Niall let out a sigh after his first sip.

“It’s been a while since I drank this.” He said.

“I was worried you were going to ask for a beer, to be honest.” Liam said, shaking his head but smiling.

The blonde then faked a hurt face, “excuse me, Liam, I know how to behave.”

“Oh, do you?” Liam then asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning over the table, resting his face on his hands.

“’Course I do. Want me to show you? Or do you want to teach me anyways?” Niall retorted, now raising an eyebrow too and leaning over the table too.

Liam was about to reply when they heard someone clearing his throat. They turned to see their waiter with their plates and instantly move their elbows from the table so he could place the food in front of them.

“Sorry” Liam offered sounding a little embarrassed and the man gave him a little smile while Niall chuckled.

“Ready to try and see if what everyone talks about this place is real?” Liam asked.

“Never been more ready.” Niall said with an excited face and took his fork to grab some food off his plate and placed it on his mouth. “Mmm” he said as he chewed, “this tastes amazing.”

Liam then chuckled and tried his food, “God, this is so good.” He said.

Okay, they sounded like they had never eaten some good cooked meals in their lives. Well, if you saw Liam’s record in the kitchen, then that wasn’t too far.

The older boy then took some food and placed his fork in front of Niall and when the blonde tried it, he closed his eyes and let out another ‘mmm’, “that’s a gift sent from God, I swear,” he said once he swallowed, “it was like an orgasm.” He said and Liam then arched an eyebrow at him. Again.

 _‘I’m gonna give you a couple of those tonight’_ he though, and immediately _‘wrong place to be thinking about that, Liam.’_ he chuckled internally.

“Do you want this one?” Liam asked him pointing at his plate.

“No, no, Li, it’s not-“ he started but Liam rolled his eyes and stretched his arm to took Niall’s plate and switched them.

“You should take advantage of this, you’re getting away with everything tonight, yeah?” Liam told him.

“I can think of a couple more things I’m going to take advantage of and getting away with tonight then.” Niall mumbled with a small smile but didn’t look at Liam, he just took his fork again to eat. Wow, they were being extremely flirty that night.

The rest of the meal was spent in between almost moans of how good the food was and then Liam saying something like “Ni, we need to behave, we’re at an expensive restaurant, so we need to act like rich people” and then they’d sat up straight again and put serious faces on and eat their food and drink wine for a couple of minutes until Niall would break into a fit of laughter and say “I’m sorry, I can’t do it.” making Liam laugh too.

By the time they were done with their meals, the waiter had approached them again to ask if they were having some dessert. They chose some chocolate marquise because it was one of their favorites.

The marquise looked incredible, with some chocolate sauce and some cream on top and a scoop of ice cream to the side. Niall was of course, the first to attack the dish, and say that it tasted completely amazing, and soon enough, he was trying to feed Liam without making a mess, which he actually succeeded to achieve.

After finishing dessert, Liam had paid for their meal and left some good tip for the waiter, and they walked out of the restaurant and into Liam’s car, and just as he was to start the engine, Niall turned and placed a kiss on his lips. A long and deep one.

“Thanks for bringing me here, Li.” He said with a smile.

“Of course, I knew you were gonna love it.” he smiled back and pecked the blonde.

Then Liam started the car and Niall turned on the radio just as he did on the way to the restaurant, only that none of them said a word during the ride, but it wasn’t an awkward silence, it was okay with them. And let’s just say, Niall was more than eager to get home so he could have Liam all to himself. For some reason, they’ve been very flirty that night, maybe it was because somewhere in between Niall starting working and going to classes and Liam going back to uni and work, they couldn’t really find enough time to spend together yet. But tonight, tonight was gonna be fun.

As soon as the car stopped, Niall almost jumped out of the car, Liam chuckling behind him. They went into the building and upstairs to the flat. Niall opened the door and waited for Liam to step inside and just as he did, he grabbed him by his jacked and forced his lips to Liam’s just as he held him closer, closing the door with his body as he leaned his back against it, Liam’s chest against his own.

Liam moved his hands to remove Niall’s coat, who happily obliged and soon, Niall’s hands moved to the zip of Liam’s jacket who was quickly discarded too. Liam’s hands traveled from Niall’s waist up to the back of his head where he pulled at the hairs there, making Niall let out a soft moan against his lips. Meanwhile, the blonde’s hands went from being wrapped around Liam’s neck to his chest and then lower until he got to his belt. He started to fight against it, trying to unbuckle it when Liam’s hand stopped him and put arms around his neck again and let his hands travel to Niall’s thighs and pulled him up. The blonde got the sign so he jumped and wrapped his legs around Liam’s waist. And then, Liam started making his way to the bedroom, being careful not to trip or run into something on their way there.

He entered the bedroom and closed the door with his leg, even though he always asked himself why the need to close the door when no one was there, maybe something about the feeling of intimacy or privacy.

He laid Niall on the bed and hovered over him, his lips never broke contact, and starting unbuttoning his shirt. He started slow, moving his lips from the blonde’s ones to his jaw and then his neck, and then kissing down his chest after every button he undid and when he was done, he threw it somewhere on the floor. Niall, on the other hand, unbuttoned Liam’s shirt so fast he almost ripped it off his body. Ok, so Liam got it. He then moved his hands to Niall’s pants and unbuckled the belt and unzipped them and then pushed them further for Niall to take them off, pushing them with his own legs while he started working on Liam’s pants.

Soon, all the clothes were gone, except their boxers. Niall was now lying with his head on the pillows, Liam’s body on top of him, kissing him and letting his hands travel up and down the blonde’s sides, but it wasn’t until Niall’s legs wrapped around his waist to press their crotches together, that he realized how Niall was holding to his arms, how much pressure he was applying and how desperate the little whines Niall was letting out against his lips sounded. Liam then wasted no time on starting his way down on the blonde’s body, leaving open mouthed kisses from his neck, his chest (and he might or might not spend some extra time on his nipples, he knew Niall was a sucker for that even if he won’t admit it), then his abs and his happy trail, and by the time he got to the elastic of his boxers, Niall’s breathing was completely shallow and his hands were already gripping the sheets.

He took his time to pull out Niall’s boxers and discard them to the floor and he was sure he heard him mutter something like “fuck, hurry up” under his breath, making him chuckle breathlessly. He then moved to his nightstand to grab the lube before placing himself between the blonde’s legs. He placed some kisses on his thighs while coating his fingers in lube before starting circling his hole.

“Warming lube, really?” Niall asked with a light chuckle.

“There wasn’t any left of the other and just though we should try this one.” Liam shrugged and started pushing, cutting off Niall’s chuckle with a moan. The first one slid in and out easily, so soon, a second one was added, and while he moved his fingers, slowly first and speeding a little later, searching for that spot inside him, he moved his mouth from his thighs, up his leg until he reached his v line, where he started sucking, Niall moaning at the sensation.

“More.” The blonde breathed then and Liam complied, adding a third finger.

That one always took a bit more of time, so Liam was always more careful, but Niall was quick to accept it this time, relaxing quickly and he wasn’t having any of ‘soft Liam’ tonight.

By the time Liam was moving his fingers without a problem and felt happy with the mark he left on Niall’s skin, he moved his mouth to the tip of Niall’s cock, swirling his tongue around it, then lowering his head.

“No, Liam, please!” Niall exclaimed, almost a cry and arching his back and thrusting his hips, which caused Liam to use his free hand to hold him by the hips so he couldn’t move them, “I’ll come!”

Liam let go of his cock with a ‘pop’ sound for a second, “it’s okay, babe,” he told him and licked from the base to the tip, “you can cum.”

“No, no, Liam, I-“ the blonde started and then Liam thrust his fingers harder and hollowed his cheeks around his cock and then Niall was coming with a long (and not so quiet) moan of _‘fuckfuckLiamshit’_ while pulling his hair.

Liam then pulled his fingers out abruptly and Niall hissed at the rapid movement and gasped at the loss, his eyes still closed. Niall was too concentrated on regaining his breath that he didn’t notice that Liam had stopped touching him and had already got rid of his boxers and was now lubing up his cock.

The older boy then spread Niall’s legs a little wider and pressed the tip of his cock against his hole and the blonde let out a moan which was a mix of pain and pleasure, as he was still coming down from his orgasm that happened to be just a minute ago when Liam was already entering him. He didn’t even give him the time to go back to normal or to even clean himself, God, his chest was still covered with his own cum.

Liam wasted no time, and after he pressed the tip of his cock, he kept pushing, slowly not to hurt the other boy but without stopping until he was fully inside.

“Fuck, Liam.” Niall said with a gasp when he felt the older boy bottoming completely, his breathing turning into pants again.

“Yeah?” Liam asked, grabbing Niall’s legs by his thighs and bending them and pushing them in the air until they were almost at each side of the blonde’s torso, leaving him completely exposed. He bucked his arms under Niall’s knees, so he could keep him in place and lowered his body so he could move his face to Niall’s neck and started kissing just as he started moving his hips.

Liam started a trail of kisses from behind the blonde’s earlobe until his shoulders while moving his hips slowly. He started sucking a lovebite where his shoulder and neck joined and Niall let out a loud moan, his hands moving to Liam’s back and scratching his almost nonexistent nails.

Needless to say that as Niall didn’t even had the time to proper come down from his first orgasm, he was still rock hard, and now Liam was sucking on his neck and collarbone while his whole body was pressing against his, his erection trapped in between their bodies creating a friction that made him moan as he felt all the cum from his previous orgasm getting Liam’s chest and stomach sticky too. Well, that and the fact that Liam was speeding up his thrusts with every minute that passed.

“More,” Niall managed to choke out at some point, “faster.”

And Liam did, not only he started moving fast but harder too. He moved his arms from where he was holding Niall legs, and wrapped them around his waist, so he could wrap one of his arms around Niall’s neck to pull at the hair on the back of his head and went for a sloppy kiss that was more of a lips against lips sharing breaths kind of thing.

Niall was almost there again. The hair pulling and the friction and his prostate being hit with each thrust had him moaning and screaming Liam’s name and a train of profanities.

“So close, Li, so close” Niall said in between gasps.

“Don’t yet.” was the only thing he got as a response from Liam as he moved down again, but this time, to suck on his Adam’s apple and started thrusting at an even faster pace.

Niall felt his legs started to give up from around Liam’s waist because of how they started to shake but he made an effort to hold them up there until Liam lowered one of his hands in between their bodies and wrapped it around Niall’s cock and started stroking him at the same time of his thrust. Niall took that as a sign that he could come, and if it wasn’t then he didn’t care because he really, really needed to come right now. So with one more thrust of Liam’s hips, Niall let out a really loud moan (he was sure he had woken up the whole building) and started shooting his load between their bodies as he let his nails scratch the older boy’s back once again.

Liam then couldn’t hold it in anymore either, and as he felt Niall coming, moaning his name and clenching so much that it was actually making it more difficult for him to keep thrusting, he started coming too, muffling a groan against the skin of the blonde’s neck.

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, trying to regain their breathings until Niall felt the other boy slipping out of him. Liam laid on the bed next to Niall, eyes closed and his chest rising and falling still from effort of regain his breath. Niall watched him from beside him and fuck, it had been completely amazing and he wanted _more_. So he quickly moved so he was straddling Liam, who let out a gasp when he felt the weight of Niall’s body on top of him, who had moved so he could now kiss him. But Liam could barely keep up with the kiss as he was still breathing too heavy and Niall was kissing him with such a force his head felt dizzy.

“Can you go again?” the blonde asked against his lips.

“Yeah” Liam choked out with a breathless chuckle and a nod as he kissed him back.

But they stayed like that for a while, just kissing and Liam letting his hands wander up and down the blonde’s back until they finally started grinding together again. Slowly, almost seductively slow, their mouths swallowing each other’s moans and whimpers.

At some point, Niall had moved his hand to grab both their lengths and rubbed them together until they were fully hard again. And then, Liam moved his hands from where they were on Niall’s back and grabbed him by the hips to lift him up so he could sit against the headboard of the bed. He smirked at the blonde and Niall smirked in return, moving so his entrance was now aligned with the tip of Liam’s cock.

Niall then started lowering himself until he was completely sat on Liam, and shit, this was definitely his favorite position, because Liam was big and this way he could definitely feel him fully inside of him.

He didn’t wait to adjust because it wasn’t really necessary right now, so in no time he was already lifting and lowering his hips. Liam grabbed him by the hips to help him support his weight and to find a rhythm and it wasn’t long until they found one. Niall’s back arched in pleasure, making their chest pressed together more, if that was even possible. Things like “there, there, oh God” and “fuck, so good” escaping the blonde’s mouth constantly as much as Liam’s name.

Liam took advantage of the fact that he wasn’t really face to face with Niall, but with his chest, to start sucking on one of his nipples, nibbling at it a little. Niall couldn’t contain the loud throaty growl that escaped his mouth as he started moving on Liam’s cock faster. The older boy got the sign and started thrusting faster too until he felt that Niall was close again because of the way he was pulling his hair and how his breathing had gone completely erratic, so he stopped thrusting and his grip on Niall’s hips became tighter, he knew there were going to be a couple of bruises there anyway.

“Why did you-“ Niall started but was cut by Liam.

“Shh” he told him as he moved from one nipple to another to start sucking again and started moving his hips in small circles. Niall let out a muffled sob because he actually felt like crying from arousal and the fact that he was starting to feel oversensitive, he couldn’t explain how good it all felt in that moment.

Liam kept moving his hips in circles for a couple more minutes before he pulled back a little and thrust with such a force it had Niall screaming and losing his balance if it wasn’t for the strong grip Liam had on his hips.

The older boy then moved one of his hands from Niall’s hips and tentatively slapped his ass. Niall’s head then fell into the crook of Liam’s neck let out a sound that sounded like a cry and a muffled word that sounded like “again.” So this time, with a little more confidence, Liam slapped him again and Niall whimpered and jerked against him.

The blonde was almost completely boneless, just holding onto Liam like there was no tomorrow while he kept on slamming inside him.

“Liam, please, _please-_ “ he begged not even knowing what for.

“Okay,” Liam said already a little out of breath against his ear, grabbing the blonde’s faces with one his hands and kissing him hard while he gave him another slap that had Niall whimpering against his lips. “Come on, babe, let go” he said, pulling away for a second from their kiss and then again, Niall was coming, his toes curling and his entire body trembling. But even though it was his third orgasm that night, it was the most intense, almost as if his life was leaving him from the strength of it. And Liam suddenly felt a lot bigger inside him as Niall’s was clenching around him once again as he started coming.

Again, they stayed still, without moving one inch for a moment, before Liam lifted Niall by the waist and pulled him up, and laid him on the bed on his stomach. Liam changed from his sitting position to lying too, his eyes closed, and the only thing audible in the room where their quick breathings and some kind of chocked sob Niall would let out.

After a minute, Liam opened his eyes and turned to look at Niall.

“Shit, you okay, Ni? You’re shaking.”

The blonde then nodded weakly, “just- so intense, fuck.” He said, his voice breaking.

“I’m sorry, I don’t kn-“ Liam started to apologize, embarrassed but Niall cut him off by shaking his head.

“Don’t- fuck, it was amazing.” Niall said, still a little out of breath but definitely better.

“I know.” Liam sighed and they stayed silent for a minute before he talked again, “you have a kink” he told the blonde and turned his head to look at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“W- what?” Niall said with a confused frown.

Liam then propped himself in an elbow and turned his body and slapped Niall’s bum playfully, causing him to let out a broken moan. The older kept his smirk on his face as he looked at him and Niall hid his face in the pillow.

“Ni, I’m joking.” Liam laughed and turned Niall’s face to the side and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?”

“Li, I don’t think I can move right now.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry you.” Liam smiled and Niall tried to protest but he was lifted of the bed by Liam’s strong arms. It wasn’t like he had any strength to fight him so he just let him do.

Liam sat him in the bathroom counter while he opened the water and let it ran until it was warm. “I’ll go change the sheets into some fresh ones and then I’ll come back and we’ll shower and I’ll wash your hair and give you a massage just how you like it, yeah?” he said and Niall only nodded.

Liam then went to the room and ripped the sheets off the mattress and looked for new, fresh ones and put them neatly before going back to the bathroom where he saw Niall sitting on the counter just as he left him a couple of minutes ago. He lifted him and stepped into the shower, sitting Niall on the bathtub floor while he grabbed the shampoo.

He let his hands massage Niall’s scalp as a form of washing his hair for a couple of minutes earning some keen sounds from the blonde, before letting the water wash away all the foam. He then washed his hair and body quickly before speaking.

“Ni, we need to, uhm-“ he cleared his throat, “clean you in there.” He finished, sounding kind of embarrassed.

Niall laughed, “you can stick your dick in there but you can’t even say the word.” He said and kept laughing.

“Shut up.” Liam snorted and put his arms under the blonde’s armpit and lifted him up so he was now standing.

“You can get out of the shower, I’ll do it.” Niall said.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, come on.” Niall assured him and Liam got out of the bathtub and grabbed a towel to dry himself before exiting the bathroom with a “just yell at me or something if you need me.”

Once in the bedroom, Liam pulled a pair of boxers and fell with his stomach on the bed, his face hitting the pillow and he let out a happy sigh. He stayed like that for what seemed like forever, not even moving a muscle and thinking about absolutely nothing until he felt a weight next to him on the bed.

“I’m so tired I almost called you from the bathroom to help me dry myself but I realized I would have been such a baby if I did.” The blonde chuckled.

“You should have called me anyways, I wouldn’t mind babying you.”

“Shush you. Let’s get some sleep, yeah?”

“Yeah” Liam said, throwing a blanket over their bodies and wrapping an arm around Niall’s figure. “Hope you had a good birthday.” He whispered.

“The best.” Niall whispered back, snuggling closer to Liam and placing a kiss on the tip of his nose before they both fell asleep.

*

When Liam opened his eyes the next morning it was almost twelve. He sighed, he loved Saturdays, where he didn’t have to work or go to uni, just staying in bed with Niall and do noth- “shit” he whispered - exclaimed to himself, eyes wide. He completely forgot about everyone coming to their flat today for Niall’s birthday. Good thing they already had a shower last night because he didn’t have enough time to have one now. How much did he sleep anyways? God.

He took his phone from the nightstand and got out of the room to see he had missed calls from literally everyone, Louis, Harry, Zayn, his mother and even Niall’s brother! Fuck.

He started by calling Greg first and apologizing for not picking up sooner and told him he had been in the middle of something, he wasn’t about to tell him he completely overslept and forgot they were coming. Anyways, Greg told him they were already in the airport and that they’ll be there in over an hour when they finished their checks in and all that stuff. Liam told him that it was okay and that he’ll be waiting for them to surprise Niall before hanging up.

Next person he called, his mother, and of course she answered with a yell of “LIAM JAMES WHY WEREN’T YOU ANSWERING YOUR PHONE?”, but this time he did tell her he overslept, there was no point in lying to her (but he did told her not to mention it Niall’s family.) His mum told him that they were half an hour away from their home and they’ll see him soon.

And last but not least, he proceeded to call his friends, he called Zayn first and told him he could come over already and apologized for not picking up later because he was still sleeping, and his friend just laughed because really, Zayn could completely relate to that, he had always slept too much.

And next, he called Louis and was greeted with a “LIAAAAAAAAAAAAM, FINALLY!” that had him pulling his phone away from his ear so he could preserve his audition. He ended up ignoring him and not even bothering to tell him why he didn’t answer his phone earlier and told him to come over with Harry.

Twenty minutes later, Harry and Louis were already knocking the door, and five minutes after them, Zayn. So they just chilled a little around in the living room, trying not to make a lot of noises so they wouldn’t wake Niall up, even though Liam had closed their bedroom door, but you know, Louis was a very loud person.

Soon, his family was at the door with an amount of food to feed a whole army. Not that they were complaining, and Niall wasn’t certainty going to complain about it either. They placed everything in the kitchen and already started setting the table ready. Some of them would have to sit and have lunch in the sofa because the table wasn’t that big to all of them, but it was okay, the important thing was that they were all in there.

And when everything was ready, Liam’s phone buzzed in his pocket with a text from Greg _‘already at the door!’_ it read, and Liam walked towards the door but stopped just before opening it and turned to everyone in the room and said “please all of you, behave” and earned a fake hurt face from Louis and his mother. He then let out a deep breath and opened the door and smiled at Niall’s family. So this was finally happening, the two families were meeting, and somehow it made him feel like a fifteen year old girl. He really hoped everything would turn out okay.

He let them inside the flat and took all his bags and suitcases with Zayn’s help and carried them to the spare bedroom while both families shook hands and greeted each other. He could see it in his mother eyes how happy she was.

“Okay,” Liam said as he came back into the living room, “you stay here and try not to be too noisy and I’ll go wake Niall and bring him here” he finished and everyone nodded in return as he turned around and entered his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

He approached the bed and bended over Niall’s sleeping body and placed a kiss behind his earlobe and then blew, causing the blonde to jerk a little in his sleep.

“Ni, babe, wake up.” Liam said softly and put his arm on the blonde’s shoulder and shook him a little. Niall didn’t move though. He rolled his eyes, great, now everyone in the living room will be asking what was taking them so much, but it wasn’t his fault! Niall was a heavy sleeper, so then again, he shook him but with a little more force this time, causing Niall to open his eyes.

“What?” Niall asked with a hoarse voice and closing his eyes again.

“What happened to your voice?” Liam asked with a frown.

“Do you not remember last night or do you want me to-“ Niall started and Liam stopped him before he could finish.

“Alright, okay, I remember. Now, I need you to get up, yeah? I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” Niall asked, his eyes opening quickly. Liam smiled.

“Yeah, come on, get up and put some clothes on.” He told him and Niall did get up and, “shit. You’re gonna need to wear a hoodie.” He told him.

Niall frowned at him, “why?”

Liam then lifted his hand and ran his finger from where Niall’s neck and shoulder joined together, down his collarbone and down to his hips, where purple marks from the night before were already showing. Niall looked at a mirror they had in the room, his eyes wide.

“Jesus, Liam.” he chuckled and Liam blushed.

“Don’t worry, just throw a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie on, come on.”

Niall then moved (maybe a little bit too quickly) to find his clothes and scrunched up his nose and shut his eyes for a minute as he felt a pang of pain running through his body.

“You alright?” Liam asked concerned.

“Yeah, just… sore.” Niall mumbled, his cheeks already heating up.

Liam closed his eyes for a moment, pinched the bridge of his nose and asked God and himself WHY, why today? Why did he choose to fuck him so hard the night before his family arrived? He was cursed, he knew it.

“Do you think you can like, uhm… fake it for a little? Like, not limping?” Liam asked.

“Liam, what’s going on?” Niall asked, already putting the sweatpants on.

“Nothing, you’ll see now, I’m just telling you that you won’t want to come of out of this room with a limp if you want to live.”

“Should have thought about that before fucking me so hard last night, Liam.” he laughed and put the hoodie on.

“Sorry” Liam mumbled and moved his eyes away from Niall and down to the floor.

“Hey, I’m kidding,” Niall said softly and pecked him on the lips, “now, let’s go see my surprise, shall we?” he said and took Liam’s hand in his as he walked towards the door of the room and opened it, walking out of it and then when he reached the living room-

“SURPRISE!” everyone yelled and Niall’s face changed to one of pure surprise, his mouth even hanging a little open.

“Finally! I thought you were fucking in there or something!” Louis exclaimed and earned not one, but two slaps at the back of his head, one from Harry and another from Zayn. Not to mention the way Niall’s father glared at him. “Sorry” he mumbled embarrassed and looked down.

Niall and Liam were watching- no, staring at him as if they wanted to fucking punch him in the face. But that would’ve to wait right now.

“I’m sorry,” Liam apologized, “Niall’s a heavy sleeper.” He said scratching the back of his neck.

Maura laughed, “tell me about it” she said as she ran to hug her son. “Happy birthday Niall!”

Niall’s smile couldn’t be any bigger, “thank you, mum.” He whispered to her.

After that, Greg hugged him, squeezed him more like, and said happy birthday too and then his father approached him and gave him a loose hug, kind of patting him in the back. But it was okay, Niall was used to that, his father has always been like that and it really had nothing to do with their relationship, his father wasn’t really demonstrative.

Then he proceeded to say hi to everyone in Liam’s family even though he just saw them two weeks ago, it was always good for him to have them around, he really appreciated them a lot.

And then, he hugged his friends, even though he saw them almost every day.

“Can’t believe you came all the way here!” Niall said to his family, even though his voice was still hoarse and it sounded a little weak.

“Ni, what happened to your voice?” his mother asked worried.

“I think I’m about to catch something.” He shrugged as he didn’t really care about it even though he knew well the reason as he threw a quick glance at Liam.

“I’ll give you something for it later.” Geoff intercepted.

“Are you a doctor?” Maura asked him and Geoff nodded, “oh, right! I remember Liam told us about it.” she smiled.

“Shall we eat then?” Karen said and everyone nodded and sat on the table and the sofa and tried to accommodate as comfortable as they could.

Ash entered the room barking and running everywhere and everyone aw’d, he was cute, and he has grown a lot too, he was still little but nothing as close as he was when Niall has found him. The dog stopped running abruptly and looked around, as if he was surprised to see so many people in the living room and then started barking again and made his way to Zayn and jumped on his lap, making the boy laugh.

“Hello to you, too, Ash.” He smiled and patted his head between his ears. “You’ve grown a lot, mate, I miss that cute little puppy you used to be” Zayn continued and the dog just kept looking at him and then barked in response making the boy laugh.

Lunch was spent pretty much with Niall telling their parents about his classes and how he was doing in school, all the new recipes and tips he had learned and that he couldn’t wait to teach his mom about it, and at that point, he actually chuckled internally at how gay that sounded, but he was okay with it, if he was happy then he accepted it. And of course, after he’d told that to his mother, Karen had jumped into the conversation and said that she wanted to know too. And then both mother’s were into their own conversation before they even knew, about dishes and how much they both liked cooking and stuff. And of course, as the loving mothers they were, they ended up talking about their sons and how good they were and Karen actually told Maura that she’s never seen her son so happy until he met Niall, gaining an embarrassed “MUUUUUUUUM!” from Liam who was now frowning and starting to blush, which caused Niall to laugh and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Their fathers weren’t so into each other as they mothers were though. They were chatting along, yes, but it was more like a forced talk, because they weren’t really into their wives conversation, but they didn’t have much in common either, Liam’s father was a doctor, a very serious man, different from the blonde’s father who just own his little business back in Ireland. Liam and Niall sensed the atmosphere, and as the good sons they were, they sat with them and starting talking about football. That was always the best of excuses, because what man doesn’t like football? And that’s how the awkwardness of the conversation started to fade away.

And then there was Greg. He was sitting with Liam’s sisters, he thought it’d be the right thing to do, as the dads were talking to each other and so were their moms. But he didn’t really fit in there, because he didn’t know them too well and the conversation was too awkward and he could see in their eyes that they were feeling the same but they were trying. It wasn’t personal though, they were good, they were very nice and smart and all just… there was nothing there to talk too. So after a few (or maybe not so few) minutes of awkward chatting, he excused himself and went to sit with his brother’s friends to introduce himself. At first he thought to go and sit with the dads and Liam and Niall but maybe it was good to sit with their friends and know them a little more. It ended up being a good choice ‘cause all the boys were pretty cool for their age, all studying and working and doing things with their lives. He was proud Niall found good people to be surrounded with.

Soon, all the dishes and plates with remaining food were gone and waiting in the sink on the kitchen to be washed, and a cake was being placed on the table. Niall was smiling like mad, he couldn’t believe the families and his friends had done all of this. He made a mental note to thank Liam later and kiss him a lot when they were alone. He blew all the candles and then Karen was cutting pieces for everyone. As soon as he was handed a dish and he was about to attack the cake (which looked delicious, by the way), the bell rang.

“Is anyone else coming?” he asked Liam who was sitting next to him. Actually, he had been by his side all the time.

“No, I don’t think so,” the older boy frowned, “I’ll go get the door.” he added and stood up.

When Liam opened the door, he could think of a million persons to see standing there but the one he was seeing. He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath before talking, he didn’t want to make a scene with all the people in the flat right now.

“What do you want?” he asked in a warningly tone, stepping out of the flat, closing the door behind him.

“I came in peace, I swear.” Alison said, actually sounding sincere.

“Alright. What do you want?” he asked again.

“I wanted to talk to Niall-“ she started but was cut by Liam.

“He’s busy right now, we’re both busy, actually.”

“You didn’t let me finish,” the girl said and looked at him in the eye, “I want to talk to him, and to you, I want to apologize, that’s it. It’ll only take a minute. Please?” she said, voice softer.

Liam stood there for a moment, not saying anything and scanning her face. “Okay.” He nodded and opened the door again and popped his head into the living room.

“Hey, Li, who was-“ Niall started.

“Can you come here for a minute, Niall?” he asked. The blonde nodded with a confused face but walked to the door anyway. A new pang of pain running through his body again as he completely avoided moving during the whole time he’s been up. And not only that, his whole body was starting to ache too. He was screwed.

When he reached the door and saw Alison standing there he sent her an angry look. Jesus, he couldn’t have a day in peace.

He shut the door behind him just like Liam did before and asked exactly the same question, “what do you want?” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest just as Liam’s arm went around his waist and held him close as if to show he was _his_ , and he wasn’t going to let go of him any time soon. Niall kind of liked that, jealous Liam was kind of cute.

Alison sighed, “look, I’m here to apologize, okay? I realized that the way I’ve been acting was wrong and childish and it’ll get me nowhere by you. Well, that and him” she said and pointed his head to Liam, “which reminds me that I don’t know even your name.” she finished and this time actually looked at the brown haired boy.

“Liam.” he said.

“Alright,” she nodded, “so that’s basically it. I’m sorry I’ve been pestering you, I didn’t know about you and I can be a bitch if you want to call me that but I wouldn’t get into someone else’s relationship. I really hope you can just forget about everything and we can make a fresh start, and I’m not asking you to be my friend or something right away, just… give me a chance, yeah? I’ve changed.” She finished saying with a small shy smile.

Liam didn’t say anything, just stood there and watched Niall, who was silent too for a moment, looking at Alison as if he was having an internal war about trusting her and not to trust her. But in the end, his nice side won, he wasn’t one to stay mad at people, even though he really, really wanted to stay mad at her right now. But what was the point anyways?

Niall let his arms fall to his sides and sighed, “okay.” He said and he saw her smiling, “I’ll give you a chance and I want Liam to give you one too.” He said and Liam looked at him confused.

“What?” the older boy asked.

“If I’m going to give her a chance to be friends, I want you to be friends with her too.”

“I- I don’t know.” He said.

“Come on,” Alison spoke, “give me a chance, I’m not that bad, I swear.”

Liam looked at her with hesitation on his face but in the end, he gave up, “okay, I think we can manage that.” He said and Alison smiled at him.

“Thank you! I’ll prove it to you!” she said, “I think that was what got Niall to lik- I think I’m going to shut up now.”

“No.” Liam said, “What were you going to say?”

“It’s not important really, it’s-“

“That maybe that was the reason I liked her in the first place, I think that was what she was going to say.” Niall said.

“I-“

“It’s okay,” Niall added, “you really know how to screw up, I swear to God, Alison.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, “please just don’t change your minds.”

“Alright, we won’t. Just go now, we have people over and we’ve been gone for too long already.”

“Okay, thank you guys,” she smiled, “I’ll see you at work, Niall, and I guess I’ll see you around, Liam?”

“Yeah. Bye.” He said as they walked her walk away and downstairs. “I don’t like her.” He spoke when he was sure she couldn’t hear them.

Niall sighed, “I just want to get over this with.” he commented and leaned his head on Liam’s shoulder, “my whole body hurts, Liam.” he added almost a murmur.

Liam looked at him, concern all over his face, “is that because of-“ he started but stopped talking when Niall nodded, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” He said blushing. “Do you want me to get them all out so you can go to bed?”

“No!” Niall exclaimed, “but I wish we could get them to go out for a while. I don’t mind the lads but our families at least, it would be kind of embarrassing with them around.”

Liam nodded, “I’ll get to it, don’t worry.” He said and pressed a kiss on Niall’s forehead. “Let’s go back inside.”

When they entered the flat, they felt everyone’s eyes on them, “who was that?” Louis asked.

“No one important.” Liam said as they walked back to where they were sitting before leaving. There was some silence and the boys looked at them confused but they ignored them and the reunion kept going.

It was already getting late, “tea time”, that’s how Liam’s mom liked to call it, and Liam had already asked her politely if they could leave for a while because he wanted to talk to Niall, and if they could take the blonde’s family with them to give them some space, and of course she said yes to him, because she could never say no to her boy.

So when his mother asked if they were up to going out for tea, both Liam and Niall declined and said they needed to clean and get everything ready for Niall’s family, but Maura was quick to say yes. Bobby didn’t look so happy though but he’ll need to get used to this because these people were going to be his family too, so he put his best smiling face on and decided that yes, they should go and of course, drag Greg with them. So after ten minutes, the whole family was gone and Niall let out a sigh.

“We’ll help you clean if you want.” Harry offered.

“Yeah, that’d be very cool, mate, thanks.” Liam smiled and then turned to lift Niall off the sofa, hooking one of his arms behind his knees and the other around his middle.

“Liam, put me down!” the blonde said laughing.

“Are you kidding me?!” Harry almost yelled, “I offer to _help_ you clean and you’re already taking him to the bedroom?!”

“I’m just going to lay him down, he doesn’t feel very well.” Liam lied. Well, not completely, Niall was hurting, just not in the way they thought.

“Oh, okay,” Harry said, “I thought you were going to have sex with us in here for a minute.” He laughed.

Liam took Niall to their bedroom and sat him on the bed, “I’ll go grab a glass of water and some pain killers so you feel better, yeah?” he said and kissed his hair and Niall nodded.

Harry entered the room a moment after while he was taking off his (Liam’s) hoodie, he didn’t even bother to wear a shirt under it, “Niall, are you feeling ok- oh, wow.” Harry started and stopped talking in a second and chuckled, looking at the state the blonde’s chest was.

“What?”

“I just think you’re not actually ‘not feeling well’, aren’t you?”

“Shut up.” Niall told him and blushed as he took off the sweatpants and got under the blankets.

Harry just laughed and turned to walk away just as Liam entered the room again, “what’s so funny?” he asked.

“Just don’t go so hard on him next time, mate.” Harry told him and kept laughing as he exited the room, leaving a very blushed and embarrassed Liam there for being caught.

He handed Niall the pills and the water and went to the living kitchen to start with the dishes, not without his friends making comments and laughing at him. Guess he’ll have to live with it. Well, they will, he was sure Niall was going to get some jokes too.

*

Niall’s family stayed for the rest of the weekend. It was good, if you asked Niall, he was happy to have them around, even if that meant to keep PDA’s to a minimum. But he enjoyed having his family around, somehow he felt like he needed to make up to all the time he lost in the past years.

Liam’s family stayed in London too, so when Niall woke up on Sunday and went into the kitchen, he found not only his mother, but Liam’s, making breakfast for everybody. “What are you two doing in my kitchen?!” he yelled playfully and laughing, he was actually really happy that their mom’s had clicked so quickly. They even invited him to cook lunch with them. “So you’re inviting me to make _my_ lunch in _my_ kitchen?” he had asked them, faking a surprised and smug face, making both women laugh.

For Liam it wasn’t that comfortable having Niall’s family around, not because he didn’t like them, it was the blonde’s father that made him uncomfortable, sometimes he caught him staring at him by the corner of his eye or little things like that. But he thought it was getting better by the end of the weekend, sometimes he even smiled at him.

It wasn’t like Bobby didn’t like Liam, it just was too much of a shock still, he was still accepting his son’s relationship with other boy. Well, he was still accepting everything Niall had told him when they were back in Ireland when they visited, maybe quite some time had already passed since then but it’s hard for a parent to hear that kind of stories from his own son. He was really trying his best. And even if it didn’t seem too, he appreciated Liam and they way he treated Niall, like the way he needed to be treated.

Greg and Liam’s sisters finally got around and after trying his best to be comfortable around each other, they succeeded. Well, kind of at least.

After the whole weekend was spent between anecdotes and stories from parents and laughs that almost made them cry, both their families were leaving to go back to their normal lives, promising they will be back soon  to bother them (especially Karen and Maura to tease Niall in the kitchen) and to have another family reunion.

Hugs were exchanged between everyone, and Bobby even hugged Liam and smiled at him! Success! And Maura had hugged Liam so hard he almost stopped breathing, but when she let go of him, she put a hand on his cheek and smiled sweetly at him and whispered a ‘thank you’ to him. The older boy smiled at her and just nodded at her words, and he was actually proud of himself for making Maura being thankful of everything he’s done for Niall, because if he had to, he’ll do it all over again.

Niall sighed as he closed the door of the flat after everyone had left. Well, it was time now. He was going to give Liam his present for their first year anniversary.

“Li?” he said softly.

“Yeah?”

“I have something for you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s in the room, come on.” He said, walking to their bedroom, Liam following him.

Liam sat at the edge of the bed as he watched Niall walking to his bag and looking for something.

Niall find what he was looking for and took it in his hands, but now as he held it, he felt nervous, he was starting to worry. What if Liam thought it was too much? What if it actually was too much? What if-

“Ni?” Liam asked, concern in his voice.

“Yeah, yeah… coming.” The blonde said and he felt his heart beating fast inside his ribcage. It’s done, he already bought it and if he thought it was a good idea at the time, then maybe it still was… right?

He stood up and hid Liam’s present behind his back and walked to the bed and sat next to Liam. He was blushing.

“Everything alright?” the brown haired boy asked.

“Yeah, just… I’m kind of nervous about what you might think about it.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it, babe. Can I see it?” he asked and Niall nodded.

The blonde moved his hands to his lap and then handed Liam an envelope. Liam looked at him in confusion but started opening it right away.

He took the contents of the envelope and his eyes went wide as he lifted his eyes to look at Niall and then down again to what he was holding in his hands, “oh my God,” he said as a whisper, “we’re going to Paris?” he asked, lifting his gaze again to look at the blonde.

Niall just nodded, “it’s… it’s my present for our first year anniversary.” He said softly and blushed.

“Oh my God,” Liam said again and stared at the blonde, “I can’t- this is too much, this is wonderful, Ni, I love it!” he said and threw himself at Niall and hugged him tight. “I don’t think I can top this, you know?” he chuckled.

“It’s not a competition,” Niall told him with a little smile, “I just wanted to give you something in return for everything you’ve done for me through all this time, and I know- I know we won’t be there for too long but we have to be here to work and classes and-“ he was cut off by Liam’s lips pressing hard against his own.

“It’s perfect, Ni.” He said, holding the blonde’s face between his hands and looking at him straight in the eye, and Niall could see his brown eyes shining with so many emotions, but love and adoration were the most important ones.

Niall smiled at him and pecked him on the lips, “I’m sorry I gave it to you so early but we’ll leaving the previous day to our anniversary so we can be there for the real day, so I kind of couldn’t wait ‘till that day to give it to you.” he chuckled.

“It’s alright,” he said and looked at the tickets again, “oh my God.”

“Stop saying that, Li.”

“I just can’t believe this! How did you manage to pay for these?”

“Well, I paid for these and everything we’ll need while staying there,” he smiled, “I just had a talk with my boss and stuff, nothing to worry about.” He told him and waved his hand.

“Thanks, Ni, this is actually the best present ever,” he told him, “I love you so much.”

Niall smiled at him, “anything for you, Liam. I love you even more.” He told him and closed the gap between them to kiss him.

Paris awaited. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as I said in the notes above, sorry this chapter was so long, I don't know what came into me. the funny thing is that when I started writing this and there were only 600 words or so, I thought "omg, this chapter is going to be so short like 2000 words is nothing" and look how it ended, LOL.  
> anyways, there will be only one more chapter, kind of an epilogue so I don't think is going to be too long (oh but the same I thought about this chapter and look.)  
> Thank you all for reading and let me know what you think of this chapter! (also, I write the smut part like three times and I ended up leaving it like that 'cause I just couldn't rewrite it anymore, I am sorry if it is completely weird)


	18. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "this is me promising."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so late, but well... I guess this is it.

The weeks between Niall giving Liam his present until the actual trip had been completely crazy but amazing as well. Even though the both of them had to make the right arrangements at work and uni and college, everything had gone according to plan. Liam had made sure to make Niall happy all the time, always. Which Niall found completely stupid because Liam made him happy all the time, but this was different, this was Liam being completely cheesy, buying Niall chocolates every day, and kissing him every two minutes and hugging him and cuddling him so close their bodies could blend into one. Not that Niall cared about any of those things, he actually found it rather cute.

They had also been shopping a lot, they wanted to have new, nice clothes for when they go to Paris. Well, Liam did and Niall was dragged along, but hey, he wasn’t about to complain, right? New clothes!

Liam had found a present for Niall and hopefully he’ll love it as much as he had loved the blonde’s one. But what he hoped the most is that he wouldn’t think it is too much.

Now, after leaving Ash with Zayn again, they were already at the airport, waiting for their flight. So this was it.

*

“Ni, babe,” Liam whispered in his ear and shook him softly, “we’re here.”

Niall opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times, “where the fuck- oh.” He said as he realized he was on a plane. He looked out of the window, “can’t believe we’re here.”

“Me either, this is so exciting!” Liam said excited.

The hour after they got off the plane, was full of checks in and papers and passports and suitcases and all that boring stuff you need to do whenever you travel. It was worth it. Now more than ever if you asked them.

They took one of those taxis that were parked outside the airport, waiting for tourists, and handed the driver a little paper with the address of the hotel they were staying at. Thank God, the driver knew a little English, so at least it wasn’t that awkward.

The hotel was placed in the centre of the city, it was a big, tall building that occupied almost half of a block. Liam’s mouth opened and almost fell to the floor when he saw that Niall actually booked a room in a _five stars hotel,_ wow, how even?

After paying the taxi driver and said goodbye, not without a ‘have a good time’ from the man, they took their luggage and entered the building, where a security man standing on the door, opened the door for them.

All the reception area what complete clean and tidy, a few sofas with a little coffee table near the door and a couple of tables at the back. The reception was to the right, and they walked towards it to check their room and get their keys.

“Hello, I booked a room some weeks ago, my name’s Niall Horan.” The blonde said when he approached the reception.

“Alright, sir. Here are your keys,” the girl standing there told him and handed him the keys to his room, “the room is the tenth floor. The restaurant is in the first floor, there’s room service too if you’d like to ask and it’ll always be available for you. All the right numbers to communicate with us are right next to the phone in the room.” She said with a polite smile, giving him the speech she was probably supposed to give everyone staying in the hotel.

“Thank you.” Niall said softly with a nod and smiling back, then turning to grab Liam’s hand, grabbed his suitcase and starting walking towards the elevator’s door.

Liam was completely marveled by the sight of their room. It was facing to the opposite street of the front door, and being in the tenth floor they had quite a nice view to the big park on the opposite street.

“Wow.” Liam said, blinking as if he couldn’t believe it.

“You like it?” Niall asked, smiling at him and kissing him on the cheek.

“Yes, wow, it’s- it’s amazing!”

“A little over a year ago it would have never crossed my mind that I’ll be in a five starts hotel in Paris with my boyfriend.” Niall smiled, looking down and shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it himself.

“Hey, let’s just not think about that, yes?” Liam said and placed a hand on his cheek and looked him in the eye, “thank you so much for bringing me here, couldn’t have asked for a better a better present. Or a better boyfriend.” he winked at Niall, making him chuckle.

“Now, let’s take a look around.” The older boy said and turned to take into the sight of the bedroom.

The large window with the view of the big park in front of them, which he was pretty sure it would be beautiful to look at night, the dark curtains, the pale color of the walls. The wine color sofa which looked very comfortable, and a small coffee table and a TV. There was a round table with chairs which matched the color of the sofa too, and a desk to the side. And then, finally, a king sized bed with white sheets but black covers, bedside tables at each side. He ran his hand through the material and felt the soft fabric brush his fingers. He sat on the bed and felt the mattress sinking behind him and then let his back hit the mattress.

“Hmm,” he closed his eyes and a small smile appeared on his lips, “it’s comfy” he commented and a minute later, he could feel a weight pressing against his own body. He opened his eyes just to find bright blue eyes staring back at him from just inches apart.

“I think we’ll give it a good use, what do you think?” the blonde whispered and leaned forward to kiss him.

Liam laughed a little into the kiss, “I like the way you think.”

They kept kissing for some minutes until Niall pulled out and hid his face on the crook of the other boy’s neck and hugged him, “I’m so happy to be here with you, you have no idea” he said, voice muffled against Liam’s skin, but he could still hear the emotions in his voice.

The older boy wrapped his arms around his waist, “I’m even happier to be here with _you,_ Ni.” He said and let one of his hands travel from his waist, up through his back and to his hair, letting his fingers run through it. He could feel Niall’s lips curling into a smile against the skin of his neck.

“What are we doing today?” Liam asked eventually.

Niall then pulled himself away from Liam, letting him move to a sitting position, “oh, well… you know, at first I thought about hiring like a touristic pack or something, but then I thought we’ll enjoy it more if we did it on our own,” he said and Liam nodded, “so I kind of made a research of the places we should visit, I mean, if you like, we’ll probably find out about more while being here, but we’ll make it work?” he said with a hint of question in his voice that made Liam laugh and nod again. “Anyways, I thought that- that as it is our first day in here, we could go for some sort of… picnic or something to this park- it’s usually not on tourists itineraries, but I thought we should give a try-“

“Is it the park we can see from here?” Liam asked, pointing to the window with his head.

“No, no, it’s a little far from here, but I read that couples go there all the time because it’s like really romantic, which could go both ways, you know, like couples go there because it’s romantic or maybe it is romantic because couples go there and- and-“

“And I’d love to go with you.” Liam cut him off with a smile and a kiss. “You were rambling.” He chuckled.

“Sorry.” Niall muttered and blushed.

“Nothing to be sorry about.” Liam smiled. He literally couldn’t stop smiling, wow. “So why don’t we shower and then we’ll head there?” he suggested and Niall smiled.

This was going to be an amazing week.

*

“What’s the name of this park again?” Liam asked for like the tenth time.

Niall chuckled, “ _Parc des Buttes Chaumont.”_

“How do you even speak French?” Liam asked with a sigh, kind of defeated, he couldn’t even _remember_ the name of this place.

“I don’t, I’m just good at accents.” Niall chuckled and shrugged.

They had to take a taxi to go there as it was a little further away from the hotel they were staying, but luckily, the hotel provided tourists with a taxi agency where drivers knew English so it was easier to communicate.

It took them a while to get there but they were in complete awe as soon as they were out of the car, this place was _beautiful._ So much green, so many trees everywhere and this lake in the middle, it was perfect for their first day in there.

“So how are we having a picnic if we don’t have food?” Liam asked, just realizing that they never stopped to buy food.

“I’ve already taken care of it, dummie, what do you think is in the bag?”

Liam frowned, “and when did you buy that?”

“While you were having a shower.” The blonde shrugged.

“Alright then. Let’s find a place and set our things down.”

They had walked quite some time until they found the right spot, or maybe it was because they wanted to just look around for a while, take in all the trees surrounding them, the breeze blowing and the sky, not a cloud could be seen, the sky perfectly blue. It was a beautiful day in Paris, something that had them in a good mood (or maybe in an even better mood.)

They sat down under a tree, set a picnic blanket (just as the one in movies a plaid red and white), and Niall took the food out of his bag. Nothing too much, just some sandwiches, a couple of snacks and two beers.

“Why am I not surprised that you bought beer?” Liam laughed.

Niall shrugged, “I bought coke too if you want.”

“Nah, beer is fine.”

At first they ate in silence, just relaxing and looking around, enjoying each other’s presence, until their eyes met and stared at each other for a second before burst out laughing. Niall had to cover his mouth as he was still chewing on a piece of sandwich but he couldn’t stop laughing.

“Stahp eet!” Niall said with his mouth still full of food which made Liam laugh even more, “what are you even laughing about?” he managed to say when he had swallowed.

“I don’t- I don’t know.” Liam said, still shaking from laughter, “what were you laughing about?”

Niall’s brow furrowed in thought, “actually, I don’t even know either” he said and a new round of laughter started.

“I can’t believe this.” Liam said when their laugh attack was over, and looking at Niall with a big smile.”

“Me neither.” The blonde smiled back.

After that, Niall had put away everything on the bag, and they both proceeded to lay on the grass next to each other, their hands finding their way to the other’s and intertwining their fingers together.

“I know I’ve said this like a million times already, but thank you for bringing me here.” Liam whispered until a long time of silence.

Niall smiled and turned his head to look at him, “thank you for saving my life.” Niall answered and turned his head again to look up before Liam could respond.

They weren’t sure how much time they had spent laying in there until they decided to do something because “Liam, we need to make the most out of this trip, get your ass up, we’re taking an adventure!” Niall had said and Liam laughed and shook his head at his boyfriend’s choice of words but obeyed nonetheless.

A moment later they were walking around the park (which was freaking huge, by the way) and somehow, at some point, Niall found himself laughing again while taking a picture of Liam climbing a tree.

“Liam, come down from there!” Niall yelled so the older boy could hear him, “don’t want you to fall!”

“But Niaaaaaaall!” Liam had complained in a whining voice and pouting.

“No buts, come down from there, young man!”

“Fine.” Liam puffed and starting making his way down. Everything was alright until he placed his foot in a cracked branch and he fell to the floor.

“Liam!” Niall yelled and moved to his side in a second, “told you that could happen! Are you alright?” he said, worry evident in his face.

“I’m alright, it wasn’t that high.” Liam shrugged and smiled. “Can I have a ‘kiss-it-better’ kiss though?”

“And where am I supposed to give you a kiss? Your whole body?” Niall laughed.

“I wouldn’t mind that.” Liam said, the smile never leaving his face.

Niall rolled his eyes and placed a kiss on his forehead, “now come on we hav-“ he started but he saw Liam was pouting at him, and the boy knew Niall couldn’t resist when he pouted, he rolled his eyes, “oh for fuck’s sake” he said and leaned in a placed a kiss on his lips. “Better?” he asked.

“A lot better.” Liam asked and moved to a sitting position before standing up.

“Oh, look at this cute picture of you that I’ve taken while you were on the tree” Niall said, taking out the camera and turning it on to show Liam the picture.

“I look like a monkey” Liam commented, and Niall laughed and placed a kiss on his cheek.

They continued their walk around the park, laughing and taking dumb picture of themselves because as Niall had expressed, “we’re going to take a lot of pictures while being here and we’re going to show them to the lads and to our families. Maybe someday to our kids,” he said, blushing, “this trip is all about making memories.”

Liam smiled at that and squeezed Niall’s hand that he was holding. His smiled so big it could break his face. He wanted all of that, he wanted to make lots of memories with Niall so he could tell his friends and families, and even to their kids if they had them one day; but not only in Paris, he wanted to make memories every day, he wanted to make every little thing especial and something to remember because it was worth it, because the boy standing next to him and holding his hand, was completely worth it, and it meant the world to him.

During the afternoon, they wandered around the city, exploring the streets and the buildings, the people, hearing them talk but not understanding a single word, which was fine by them, they were in their own little bubble. They had taken lots of pictures of buildings and streets and things they had found interesting and of course, _of course,_ they ended up in some café because Niall was hungry. It took them about fifteen to twenty minutes to decide what to eat because they had to translate every word in their phones to know what was what they were about to order.

When they got back to the hotel at night, they decided that for being their first night in there, they could just stay and have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. Which food was amazing, by the way, thank you.

By the time they were back to their room, they were already so tired they could sleep for a month.

“Jesus, I am so tired I think I’m going to fall asleep standing.” Liam chuckled.

“Yeah, me too.” Niall said while getting under the covers on the bed and letting out a happy sigh.

“I promise we’ll give the bed a better use tomorrow night.” Liam said while getting in bed too and snuggling closer to his boyfriend.

“Can’t wait.” Niall said with a smile before his eyes closed and they fell into a deep sleep.

*

When Niall woke up the next morning, it was to a pair of arms wrapped tight around his waist and kisses being placed on the backs of his neck. He let out a sigh at the feeling and the warm chest pressed against his back, and to let Liam know he was awake.

“Mmm, happy anniversary, babe.” Liam said with a low voice, burying his head in the blonde’s head, making Niall giggle.

“You’re tickling me with your nose.” He said and moved to turn around. He placed a deep kiss on the older boy’s lips. “Happy anniversary to you too.” He smiled.

“What should we do today, then?”

“Hm, I have plans for today,” Niall said with a smirk, “but first of all, we’re calling room service for breakfast because we’re starving and I don’t feel like moving at all.”

Liam chuckled, “sounds good. Then what?”

“We’re going to the Louvre!” Niall exclaimed enthusiastically, making Liam laugh, “and the rest is a surprise.”

“Noooo, tell me, you know I’m no good at being patient!” Liam pouted.

“Nope, you’ll have to wait, Li.” He smiled.

“Please?” the older boy pouted even more.

“No, Liam, you’re no fun!”

“Fine.” Liam puffed and let go of the blonde, “now I’m not calling room service for you.” he said in a voice that sounded like a kid being upset for something dumb and turned his back to Niall.

The blonde laughed, “you know I can do that myself, right?”

“I don’t like you anymore.” Liam said still sounding like an angry kid and Niall could almost sense the laugh in his voice but almost see him pouting too even if he had his back to him, so he grabbed him by the shoulder until Liam was laying on his back again and he placed himself on top of him, his legs at each side of his hips.

“You know you do, Li.” Niall whispered, their faces so close, their noses were touching and they could feel the other’s breaths on his lips.

Liam let out a slight laugh before moving his face forward to kiss the blonde. “I do, I really, really do, actually.” He said, smiling.

“Good, where’s my breakfast then?”

“You only care about food, you asshole!” Liam yelled, laughing and slapped him in the arm.

“Of course I do!” Niall exclaimed and laughed.

“You’re so dumb.” Liam said, kissing him again and moving to grab the phone.

After being on the phone for like five minutes listening to everything that was on the breakfast menu, he settled down with coffee, toasts and croissants, maybe he asked for orange juice too? He didn’t even remember anymore. Whatever, Niall could probably eat all of it, so…

“Breakfast will be here in a few” Liam commented and laid on the bed again.

“Good,” Niall smiled, “now can I have my morning cuddles without tantrums before the food is here?”

“Are you calling me grumpy?” Liam said and crossed his arms over his chest.

“’Course not, babe.” Niall told him, placing a kiss on his cheek and wrapping one of his arms around Liam’s waist.

“Fine.” Liam said, rolling his eyes playfully and moved to cuddle his boyfriend.

*

After breakfast, they had gone out to get to know the city better, they even got lost at some point and ended up walking in circles. How do you even walk in circles in a city? Whatever.

They had lunch in a small place in the centre of Paris, where everyone was really nice and the food was pretty great. They were tempted to try some typical French food so they ended up ordering this things Liam couldn’t pronounce but Niall could, but they were something like Coq Au Vin and Ratatouille.

“Oh, like the movie!” Liam had exclaimed.

“I can’t believe you’re comparing a typical French dish to a movie.” Niall said, shaking his head and they both laughed.

The food was delicious and Niall made a mental note to learn how to prepare the dishes when he was back home.

Now it was time for their cultural visit. Niall had chosen the Louvre because he had always found it interesting and he was always willing to learn about culture. Also, it was well known around the world and he read it was one of this places you _must_ visit when you’re in Paris. And he knew that Liam would probably be interested in everything that was in it too, even though he was kind of shit at languages and art, but he could manage that.

Once in the museum, they started their tour with one of the expositions and then the rest of the afternoon went like that. Liam had found out that he liked abstract or nonfigurative paintings better than the rest, while Niall had discovered that he liked realism better. See? They even complemented each other in their art tastes.

The building was completely amazing, of course, you know the pyramid form, you can see on the street (and of course they had taken pictures in there too), they were completely amused by it.

After spending the afternoon in there, it was time for Liam’s surprise, so when they were out of the museum, Niall had stopped a taxi and asked the driver to take them to the Eiffel Tower without Liam hearing him.

Niall got sure to make Liam distracted the whole ride so he wouldn’t know where they were going, not that Liam knew Paris, but just in case.

When they got out of the car, the sun was already starting to come down.

“Niall, where are we goi- oh my God.” Liam said when he turned around and saw the Eiffel Tower. “Give me the camera.” He said and Niall handed it to him immediately. Liam stopped a young couple walking past them and asked them to take a picture of Niall and him with the tower in the background. 

When the picture was taken and he approached the couple again to get his camera, they girl moved it away from him, but didn’t give him enough time to get confused when she spoke again, “uh-uh, now one kissing” she said, giggling but with a smile. Liam had blushed but nodded and went back to Niall who was watching at him confused but got the idea as soon as Liam kissed him and he felt the click of the camera, making them both smile into the kiss. And then, another click of the camera.

“Thanks.” Liam said to the couple with a shy smile.

“Enjoy your trip.” They said with their French accents before leaving.

“Come on, Li, we got to hurry up!” Niall told him suddenly.

“Why? Where are we going?” the older boy asked confused.

“Up there, dummie.” Niall told him pointing to the highest floor on the tower.

“We’re going up there? Oh my God, let’s go!” Liam exclaimed and grabbed Niall’s hand and ran towards the tower.

It was a big cabin, kind of like a big elevator, what took them up, and it was kind of a long time inside it, as the highest floor was more than two hundred meters above the floor. But they had looked outside the whole time, watching how the buildings got smaller and they could see the lights of the city from above.

Once they reached their destination, they stepped outside the cabin and walked around the floor for a moment, taking in how amazing everything looked from up there. There were some other people, couples up there with them, but this was just about them, so they kind of immersed themselves into their little world.

“This is so fucking amazing.”

“And we’re about to see the sunset.” Niall said, grabbing Liam by the arm and standing next to him, as they looked ahead, how the sun starting to hid itself, the sky turning all colors from pink, orange and yellow, giving the few clouds a pastel hint.

“This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Niall said in a soft voice, amused, and intertwining his fingers with Liam’s as he rested his head on his shoulder.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve seen.” Liam said back but without looking down at him, just a small smile playing on his lips but still looking at the sunset.

“You’re ruining it.” Niall joked, but still smiled and squeezed the older boy’s hand.

“No, I’m not.” Liam said and turned to place a kiss on the blonde’s forehead.

After that, there was silence, but because there wasn’t anything left to be said, they were just enjoying probably the most beautiful event of their lives with the person they loved the most.

When the sun was already gone, and the sky started to turn into shakes of blue, they snapped out of their little worlds and turned to look at each other with matching smiles on their faces. “That was completely amazing.” Liam whispered.

“I know,” Niall smiled, but it suddenly fell, “I forgot to take pictures.” He said, his voice sad.

“Cheer up, baby,” Liam said and gave him a light peck on the lips, “we can come back sometime during the week before we go, yeah?”

Niall nodded, “okay.”

And just after that conversation, someone cleared their throats behind them and they turned around.

“I’m sorry,” the girl that worked there and went up there with them said, “but we need to go down now.” she added with a shy smile. They both nodded and smiled at her before linking their hands and walked into the cabin again.

*

After the nearly most exciting experience of their lives was over, they had returned to the hotel, where Niall had told the older boy to go get ready because they were going out for dinner.

Niall had made reservations in this renown hotel some time ago, and it was part of the surprise too, so when Liam was looking for clothes to wear, the blonde had told him to wear something fancy for the occasion.

They took another car from the hotel, where Niall told the driver the address of the restaurant, and luckily it wasn’t really far from they were staying, so it was kind of a short ride.

Once outside the car and into the restaurant, they were received by a man in a suit, who asked them if they had a reservation and Niall answered that they, indeed, had one in the name of Niall Horan. Liam was looking confused but excited about being in such a nice restaurant in Paris, you know, it wasn’t that every day you get to have dinner with the love of your life in the most romantic city in the world and in such a nice place.

“You like this place?” Niall had asked while Liam looked around, it looked so… refined.

“Yeah, it’s… amazing, looks lovely in here.”

They were sitting in a table away from the rest of them, Niall might or might not asked for a private one when he booked the table.

A waitress had approached them a few minutes later and they chose wine to drink. Red wine this time, which the woman served them while they read the menus.

When their election of food was over, they told the waitress, who wrote it down and walked away after telling them it would be ready in a moment.

“Did you ask for a table away from the rest?” Liam asked then.

“Yeah… I might have,” the blonde shrugged, “I wanted tonight to be special for us, without people being around.”

A little bit more of chatting happened before the waitress was back with their food. It looked great, and it tasted even better.

Liam had fed Niall a little of his food and Niall did the same with him. They enjoyed the food while Niall told him about the other places around Paris he wanted to visit during the week, the museums, parks and monuments. They kind of made a plan for the rest of the week, but seeing as they didn’t have anything to write it down, and taking out their phones wasn’t an option being in such a place, they were kind of going to forget it, but it was okay, they tried.

By the time the food was over, the waitress was back to remove their plates and asked if they were going to have dessert, which Niall answered right away with a yes.

They chose some kind of frozen dessert that included ice cream and different fruits, it was a nice change from always having something with chocolate and cream. And as soon as the dish was on the table, they had almost thrown themselves at it because of how good it looked. And it tasted awesome, just as the food did before.

Once the dessert was over, Liam started feeling a little tense, he had Niall’s present with him, he just wasn’t sure if this was the right place to give it to him. He wanted privacy, and even though they were far away from the rest of the tables, he wanted them to be completely alone.

“You alright there, Li? You look kind of conflicted.” Niall asked with a frown.

Liam just shook his head and smiled, “I’m fine, shall we go?” he asked smiling, and the blonde nodded.

They just asked for the bill and after paying and leaving the waitress a good tip, they stood up and left the place.

The taxi ride back to the hotel was kind of weird, it was in complete silence and Niall could feel Liam was worried about something because of the way he was squeezing his hand the whole time.

They reached the hotel in no time and went straight to the elevator and to their room.

“It was a lovely day, Li, I loved it.” Niall had told the other boy with a smile.

“Yeah,” Liam said smiling back but it didn’t really reach his eyes, “thanks for today, I loved it.”

Niall let out a sigh, “okay, what’s wrong?”

Liam frowned, “what? Nothing’s wrong, Ni.”

“Then why do you look so upset about something?”

“I’m not- I’m just going to give you your present now, alright?”

 _Oh._ So that was it.

“Okay.” Niall said and nodded slowly.

Liam walked to the bed and sat on the edge of the bed and patted the space next to him for Niall to sit.

Niall went and sat right next to Liam on the bed, and the older boy moved away a little, so there was a space between them. Niall frowned, but then, Liam took something out of his pocket and placed it on the bed between them, and opened it, showing two rings inside the small box.

“Liam…” Niall said, a little breathless because of how his heart had started to beat faster inside his chest, his eyes wide when he looked up from the rings to Liam.

“Just… let me talk, alright?” Liam said and Niall just nodded, “so this is- this is not me proposing, believe me, I would have done it completely different if I did,” he said with a little laugh that made Niall smile, his heart starting to calm down a little again, “this is me _promising_. You might be asking yourself _what_ I’m promising, and well… I don’t really have a speech for this, because I think spontaneous is better, but now I kind of wish that I had prepared a speech.” He said and chuckled nervously, and Niall just couldn’t believe how small and vulnerable Liam looked, as if he was afraid of losing him. As if Niall would say no. “So, uhm… you said this trip was about making memories, which is something I completely agree, but it’s not about now, you know? I mean, not only about making memories while being here, Niall, I just- I want to make memories with you my whole life, like I’ve been doing every day since I met you. That day I decided to help you up and let you into my life was like, the best decision ever, but that’s for some other day, some other speech, I think you know which one.” Liam said and winked at him and Niall looked down with a smile and shook his head, “So after everything we went through together, I decided that I want you all for me for whatever fate has to offer me, so this is- this is me promising, Niall, promising that I’ll always be there for you, whenever you need me, always, to pick you up if you feel like falling. Promising that I’ll try my best every day to make you happy, to be a better person, to change whatever you think I need to change to stay with you. Promising that one day I’ll marry you and take care of you the way you need to be taken care of because you’re such a wonderful person, I don’t know how I got so lucky to have you in my life. One day we’re going to tie our lives together and then have a family and grow older together, because that’s how I’d like it to be, I want to learn about life with you next to me and me being there for you. I promise, Ni, to love you every day and I’d love it if you wanted to stay with me too, I mean, if you want to.” Liam finished softly and with a small smile, looking down.

Niall could feel tears already running down his cheeks, how could Liam think that he was the one who got lucky? He had no idea that it was actually Niall who couldn’t believe his luck.

Liam then looked up at him, nervousness evident on his face, as if he was waiting for Niall to say something.

The blonde then threw himself at Liam and wrapped his arms around his neck, hugging him so tight it was probably cutting off Liam’s breathing. Niall kissed him hard before speaking, “you’re the cutest, best, thing ever, Liam,” he said and kissed him again, “of course I want you, I want to see your face when I wake up every morning and to fall asleep next to you every night, I want to teach you how not to burn the kitchen down and I want you to teach me how to drive a car. I want to have a family some day and I want to take pictures of every big and even little event in our lives and I want you stay with me forever because how could I not want you? I’d be damned if I didn’t have you.”

Liam smiled again, his eyes a little watery but he kept the tears from falling down. “You know, this sounded a lot like a proposal, actually.” Liam laughed shakily.

“I would have said yes, you know, if you’d asked me to marry you.”

“I hope you won’t change your mind by the time I decide to ask then.”

“Never.” Niall smiled.

Liam then stretched his arm to reach for the rings when Niall smacked his hand away.

“Ow,” Liam complained, “why was that for?”

“I didn’t take a picture of this memory yet!” Niall smiled and pulled away from Liam’s body to look for the camera, then snapped a picture of the little box with the rings. “I’m making a book with all these pictures, it’s going to be _Liam and Niall’s memories book_.” He said smiling.

“I’d like that.” Liam said back, “Can I now?” he asked looking at the rings and Niall nodded. He then took one of the two rings and placed it on the blonde’s finger.

The blonde looked at the ring on his finger at just, _wow,_ this was real. After contemplating the ring, which was a simple silver band, for a moment, he looked up to see Liam watching at him with so much adoration and love in his eyes it actually made his heart skip a beat. He took the ring that was left on the box then, and placed it on Liam’s finger, “I promise too” he whispered before moving closer to kiss him.

And everything after that, it was history, just the two of them and an act of love, because there was nothing Niall or Liam loved more than the feeling of their skins together, and the shiver that send through their spines, or the feeling of their lips touching or their hands touching softly, caressing the other’s skin. To be able to feel their love consuming and hearing the words _I love you_ whispered into their ears. They couldn’t wish for anything better.

And when the night was over and the blankets were covering their bodies, their minds drifting into a deep sleep, the last thought that crossed their minds was they still had a week in Paris to enjoy and make memories, and then, _their whole lives ahead._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm so sorry for the late update, but it was so hard to finish this story, I actually cried when I finished it, wow.  
> I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to read this and please know that you're amazing and that I love you all. This story has been my baby for such a long time, I was so attached it was difficult to see it come to an end. But now I'm ready to move on. Please fell free to comment and let me know what you think about the ending or the whole story, if you liked or what kind of things you'd like to see (or I should improve) in my next stories!  
> Also, I've never been to Paris so I had to look up for everything and I hope that I didn't make anything up, but my apologies if something's incorrect.  
> I'm going to start writing a new fic soon, I've had the idea in mind for some time, now I need to transform it into words. But for now, I'm going to stick to just post one shots until I have enought chapters of the fic to start posting it.  
> So, again, thank you all for reading, look how far we've come!  
> Remember that if you want to talk to me, you can go to tumblr and send me a message (niamverse.tumblr.com) or you can give me ideas for one shot stories because I ran out of them, haha.  
> Love you all! x


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